May 14 edition

Firefighters responding to hotel fire attacked by man wielding machete

By Delayna Earley and Mike McCombs

Island News

The

City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal firefighters were attacked by a man with a machete Monday morning, May 11, as they responded to a fire alarm at a local hotel.

Just after 8 a.m., Engine Company 4 of the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department was responding to a fire alarm call at the Comfort Suites at 131 Big John Road.

According to Deputy Chief Ross Vezin, while responding, the inci-

dent was upgraded to a structure fire based on information from Beaufort County Dispatch and a sprinkler activation.

As firefighters arrived on scene and entered the hotel room where the fire was located, they were “confronted and attacked by a man armed with a machete.”

“Our crews remained safe and handled an extremely difficult and dangerous situation professionally and appropriately,” The Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department said in a social media post.

According to the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department, the firefighters involved in the incident were evaluated on scene by Beaufort County EMS and cleared for duty.

Vezin said the fire was small, and the sprinkler system put it out. At this time, it is unclear how the assailant was detained.

“I can’t speak about that,” said Vezin when asked how the man was subdued. Vezin did confirm

County Council balancing primaries, budget numbers, sales tax referendum

BEAUFORT

Beaufort County Council was scheduled this week to get a look at their transportation advisory committee’s recommendations for a sales tax question to put on the November ballot.

They don’t have a lot of time to consider their options.

The schedule Council approved in January when they established the 15-member advisory committee set final reading to the ballot referendum ordinance in July, giving supporters of the traffic improvement sales tax four months to campaign for its passage.

Pretty impressive schedule when you consider five of the 11 Council members are facing re-election campaigns, although one of those five — David Bartholomew of District 2 — has no opposition in the primary or in the November election. Three of the Council veterans — Alice Howard, District 4; Joseph Passiment, District 5; and Larry McElynn, District 10 — are not seeking re-election so, theoretically, they’ll have time to focus on that sales tax campaign.

But wait a minute, the Council is also working on a multi-million FY 2027 budget package which has already sparked some friction in the early discussions.

They cut the county Human Services Department, handing

Sheriff candidate forum canceled after Seifert withdraws.

Lawsuit challenges Pine Island CPO

Developers argue St. Helena protections amount to race-based zoning

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

The legal battle over Pine Island and the future of development on St. Helena Island is once again headed to federal court, with developers now directly accusing Beau-

fort County of enforcing what they describe as a racially discriminatory zoning ordinance.

Filed April 20 in U.S. District Court, the amended complaint by Pine Island Property Holdings, LLC and Pine Island GC, LLC ar -

gues Beaufort County’s Cultural Protection Overlay, or CPO, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and unlawfully restricts development based

SEE LAWSUIT PAGE A8

Waterfront committee backs rebuilding existing platform

Scallate explores TIF funding option for waterfront project

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

Members of Beaufort’s Waterfront Advisory Committee voiced support Monday, May 4 for re-

building Henry C. Chambers

Waterfront Park’s failed relieving platform largely in its current form, while acknowledging major questions still remain about how the multi-million-dollar project will ultimately be funded.

The relieving platform is the structural foundation beneath much of the waterfront prome-

nade and public park space along the Beaufort River.

During the meeting, engineers with McSweeney Engineers presented the results of recent public feedback gathered during the city’s waterfront design concepts meeting.

According to the presentation, the overwhelming preference

MILITARY

Beaufort DAV Chapter 12 again named state’s best.

PAGE A17

among attendees favored “Option 2,” which would rebuild the existing relieving platform while elevating it to better address flooding concerns.

Project engineer Bill Barna with McSweeney Engineers told the committee the public re-

SEE REBUILD PAGE A6

LOWCOUNTRY LIFE & NEWS

VETERAN OF THE WEEK GARY KOCSIS

In case nobody’s been watching, the Beaufort Inn has been whitewashed, literally. No more party pink. Instead, it’s looking much more stately in this photo by Habersham’s Ron Callari as Beaufort’s version of a White House. To submit a Lowcountry Life photo, you must be the photographer or have permission to submit the photo to be published in The Island News. Please submit high-resolution photos and include a description and/or names of the people in the picture and the name of the photographer. Email your photos to theislandnews@ gmail.com.

American Legion Beaufort Post 207 brings you Gary Kocsis, 70, who joined the United States Marine Corps in Summerville, N.J., in 1975. After Boot Camp at Parris Island, he went to Twentynine Palms, Calif., to attend Electronics School and Radio Fundamentals Course before advanced training at Keesler AFB in Mississippi for Microwave Equipment Repair. His first duty station was MCAS Cherry Point working with ground-to-air communications. From there he deployed on USS Harlan County (LST-1196) to the Caribbean; on USS Austin (LPD-4) to Norway and Den-

Hotel from page A1

the only weapon his firefighters saw was the machete.

Master Sgt. Sean Flomer of Patrol Operations for the Beaufort Police said the suspect was taken to a local hospital and then booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center.

According to the Beaufort County Detention Center, Joseph Leroy Smalls, 40, of St. Hel-

ena Island, was the only person booked into the detention center by the Beaufort Police on Monday morning. He is charged with Assault and Battery – 1st degree, and his bond was set Tuesday morning at $50,000 Flomer, who said he is the acting Public Information Officer for the Beaufort Police Department, has so far not confirmed the identity of the person arrested. As of press time Tuesday afternoon, Smalls remains confined.

The Beaufort Police Department is handling the investi-

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

May 16

2019: The Battery Creek High School softball team wins the Class 3A state championship, defeating Union County, 2-1, at Battery Creek. Senior pitcher Alexis Ortiz hurled a one-hitter and hit the go-ahead solo home run in the fourth inning for the Dolphins, just two batters after Emily Crosby homered to tie the game at 1 Ortiz pitched all 48 postseason innings for BC, striking out 66 and surrendering just 4 runs.

May 17

1562: Two French ships, led by Huguenot Jean Ribault, which had sailed north from Florida, enter the Port Royal Sound, and Ribault names the large natural harbor Port Royal. Ribault decides to establish a permanent settlement on what is now known as Parris Island. Ribault’s men construct a fort — Charlesfort — and

mark; and aboard USS Saratoga (CV-60) to the Mediterranean, including Spain and Turkey. In 1978 he deployed to MCAS Beaufort to backfill locals who deployed. In 1979 he separated and used the GI Bill to attend DeVry Technical Institute, furthering his skills in electronics. He then began 18 years working for IBM designing integrated circuits before moving to Pitney Bowes and advanced mail services. In 2013 he relocated to Smith

gation into the attack on the firefighters, while, according to Vezin, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has been notified and will be investigating the fire.

Renee Wunderlich, Public Information Officer for SLED confirmed that the “Arson Investigations Unit was requested to assist with an investigation on Monday, May 11 2026, by the Beaufort City Police Department to determine origin and cause of a hotel room fire.” She also confirmed a firefight-

Mountain Lake, Va., and began selling boats. Finally in 2019, he moved to Beaufort County. He is a DAV volunteer each Thursday, helping service VA claims at AMVETS in Port Royal, where he is also a member. He volunteers at the Beaufort History Museum.

– Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 207 For Veteran Of The Week nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.

er responding to that room was attacked by a man armed with a machete; and that firefighter was treated for an injury; and the subject was taken into custody.

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.

26 men, led by Albert de la Pierria, an experienced soldier, are left behind when Ribault departs for France on June 11 1562. The fort is occupied for less than a year.

May 18

2019: Hilton Head Island’s Cohen Bruner, 16, and sister Skyler Bruner, 14, win the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, in the Beaufort River Swim. The siblings’ father, Carlton Bruner, swam for the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.

May 20

2013: Art Director Hope Falls Shreve is hired as an intern by The Island News – Compiled by Mike McCombs

Do you value your free hometown newspaper – made by locals, for locals? Free news isn’t cheap. Please help support The Island News! Donations gratefully accepted at www.yourislandnews.com or The Island News, PO Box 550,

misspelled in the Veteran of the Week feature.

NEWS

Sheriff candidate forum canceled after Seifert withdraws

Republican primary forum in Bluffton called off amid accusations of bias

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

A planned public forum featuring the two Republican candidates running for Beaufort County Sheriff has been canceled after candidate Doug Seifert withdrew from the event, alleging bias among the organizers.

The forum, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, May 19 at Bluffton Elementary School, was set to feature Republican candidates Doug Seifert and JoJo Woodward discussing their visions for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office ahead of the June 9 Republican primary election.

Seifert announced over the weekend that he would no longer participate, pointing to what he described as “obvious bias” connected to organizer Mike Covert, a former Beaufort County Council member and host of the political podcast “Beaufort County’s House of Cards.”

In a public statement, Seifert referenced a 2022 Facebook post promoting a previous political meet-and-greet that included both Covert and Woodward among the featured candidates.

“Evidenced by this post, it is clear that the organizer backed my opponent in his second unsuccessful bid to become Beaufort County Sheriff,” Seifert wrote. “The Beaufort County residents deserve a fair and impartial forum for the candidates to be heard.”

The cancellation comes during a closely watched sheriff’s race that was left open after longtime Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tan-

ner announced earlier this year that he would not seek an eighth term.

Seifert, a 20year veteran of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and former lieutenant, has been endorsed by Tanner.

Woodward, a former sheriff’s office captain, is making his third run for sheriff and has campaigned on promises of leadership changes, higher deputy pay and expanded traffic enforcement.

Democrat Alphonso Small Jr., a current Beaufort County School Board member, is also running for sheriff and will face the winner of the Republican primary in the Nov. 3 general election.

In an interview Monday with The Island News, Covert said the forum was intended to be an independent, community-focused event rather than a partisan debate.

“The whole idea of this forum was that it would be a non-political party-backed thing,” Covert said.

“The atmosphere, we wanted it to be very relaxed and not a debate, more of a forum.”

According to Covert, both campaigns initially agreed to participate and had confirmed the date and location multiple times before concerns began surfacing over social media posts and promotional materials.

Part of the controversy centered around an AI-generated promotional flyer that used altered candidate photos.

Seifert publicly criticized the image, saying it made him appear older while using what he described as a more polished image of Woodward.

Covert defended the flyer, saying the image was never intended to portray Seifert negatively and was quickly replaced after complaints were raised.

“It was an AI-generated flyer. Like 90% of flyers are done these days,” Covert said. “I retracted it, and I found another picture of him, got it on there, and then she and I decided, let’s just get rid of that, and we’ll do a complete new one.”

Covert also disputed allegations that the forum was designed to favor Woodward, noting that organizers intentionally included moderators from different parts of the county and different political backgrounds.

The planned moderators included Covert, Heather Malia Rath of Hilton Head Island, who co-organized the event with Covert, and Port Royal resident Mare Deckard, whom Covert described as a Democrat.

Questions planned for the forum would have covered topics including Sheriff’s Office budgeting, traffic enforcement, community engagement, unsolved murders and drug enforcement, according to Covert.

Among the proposed questions were inquiries involving Woodward’s presence near the scene of the 2021 killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in Colleton County, after disgraced former attorney

Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife and youngest son, as well as Seifert’s involvement in the 2025 arrest of Beaufort County Sheriff’s Deputy William “Billy” Squires, who was accused of pointing his service weapon at a group of teenage boys walking through his Hilton Head neighborhood while Squires was off duty and under the influence of alcohol. Authorities later said no weapons were found on the teenagers.

Following Seifert’s withdrawal, Woodward released a statement distancing himself from the cancellation.

“JoJo did not cancel. JoJo did not withdraw,” the statement read. “He was ready to show up — because he always is.”

Following the cancellation, Covert defended the forum organizers in a lengthy Facebook post, arguing that sharing a 2022 campaign flyer featuring himself and Woodward did not amount to political bias.

Covert also noted that Rath had attended Sheriff P.J. Tanner’s election night event in the past, questioning whether the same logic would then label her biased toward Seifert, who has Tanner’s endorsement.

In the post, Covert wrote that neither organizer had discussed a “preferred” candidate and said both campaigns had previously confirmed the date, time and location of the event before Seifert’s withdrawal.

Despite withdrawing from the May 19 forum, Seifert continued campaign appearances this week.

In a Tuesday, May 12 post shared by the Seifert for Sheriff campaign following a candidate event hosted by the Lady’s Island Business and Professional Association, Seifert wrote that he “enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a Q&A forum” with Woodward and described it as a “great crowd, great conversation, and great opportunity.” Rath also addressed the cancellation in a Facebook post over the weekend.

“Michael E. Covert and I worked very hard to organize a forum for the Republican Sheriff’s Primary,” Rath wrote. “It was an effort that also consumed a tremendous amount of my personal time, and I was looking forward to hearing directly from the candidates and learning more about their platforms.”

Rath added that the event would not be rescheduled, but said she hoped both candidates would still appear on another platform so voters could hear directly from them before the June 9 Republican primary.

“Please research and go vote,” she wrote.

“The real losers here are the citizens,” Covert told The Island News. “We both spent a lot of time, a lot of energy … and to have it end like this is sad.”

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

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Beaufort County advances expanded plastic ban in 6-5 vote

Proposed ordinance would expand existing bag ban to include Styrofoam containers, thicker plastic bags

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

Beaufort County Council ap-

proved first reading Monday night, May 11, of a proposed expansion of the county’s plastic bag ordinance in a narrow 6-5 vote following lengthy debate over environmental impacts, government regulation and costs to businesses.

The proposal would expand Beaufort County’s existing 2018 single-use plastic bag ordinance to ban thicker plastic carryout bags often marketed as reusable bags, prohibit Styrofoam food service containers and limit the automatic distribution of plastic straws and utensils.

Council members Thomas Reitz, Mark Lawson, Logan Cunningham, Paula Brown and David Bartholomew voted against the measure. Under the proposed changes, businesses would still be allowed to provide plastic straws and plastic cutlery, but only if requested by customers, offered through self-service stations or provided after staff asks whether customers want them.

Beaufort County first adopted its single-use plastic bag ordinance in 2018 as part of a broader regional

effort among several Lowcountry municipalities to reduce plastic waste, litter and stormwater issues.

County officials said thicker plastic bags marketed as reusable alternatives became increasingly common after the original ordinance took effect, leading to discussions about expanding the ordinance.

The proposal would also prohibit expanded polystyrene foam products commonly referred to as Styrofoam, including takeout containers, cups, plates, trays and bowls.

County staff said the products are not recyclable through Beaufort County’s system and contribute to landfill waste, litter and environmental concerns.

Years of study and outreach

County planning staff told council the proposal was the result of nearly two years of research, outreach and public input after the county’s Natural Resources Committee directed staff in 2024 to study possible updates to the existing plastic bag ordinance.

Rob Merchant, Beaufort County’s director of planning and zoning, said staff intentionally slowed the process to gather feedback from municipalities, businesses and res-

idents before bringing recommendations forward.

“We took it slow, and I think that we benefited from that,” Merchant said during Monday’s presentation.

Merchant said the proposal attempts to address several issues simultaneously, including litter, landfill capacity, stormwater infrastructure and microplastics entering local waterways and shellfish habitats.

Environmental Long Range Planner Juliana Zadik told council more than 6 200 survey responses were collected during the county’s outreach process, which included presentations to municipalities, regional planning groups and community organizations.

The ordinance includes several exemptions.

Styrofoam packaging used for unprepared foods such as meat, eggs and produce would remain allowed, along with products purchased or packaged outside Beaufort County before being sold locally.

Paper food containers with plastic linings or windows would also be exempt.

Nonprofit organizations affiliated with schools, religious groups

Man arrested in Grays Hill shooting

By Mike McCombs

The Island News

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Gray’s Hill man in connection with a shooting that occurred during the early morning hours of January 31 2026

Oliver Shamane Donaldson, Jr., 45, who was arrested Sunday, May 10, just before midnight, faces charges of attempted murder, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, breach of peace – aggravated in nature, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

On Tuesday, May 5, BCSO deputies attempted to execute an arrest warrant and a search warrant at Donaldson’s residence, but Donaldson could not be located. The search warrant for evidence, however, was successfully completed.

Donaldson was released Monday, May

Lowdown

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those duties over to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Department.

County Treasurer Maria Walls, who is also facing opposition this year for re-election, told County Council last week approximately $700,000 has already been spent in a lawsuit she filed against the county challenging $73 000 salary increases for her staff, according to Tony Kukulich of The Post and Courier. Walls, who has been treasurer since 2015, filed the lawsuit challenging county budget administrators had no authority to alter her budget and that suit is making its way through the court.

And of course, the Council has no way of knowing how much a recent federal court ruling involving strip searches of some 8,000 female inmates in the county detention center is going to cost taxpayers. The March 31 ruling on the class-action lawsuit is being challenged by county attorneys and still to be determined is how much insurance will pay for any settlement.

In the meantime, those female plaintiffs, arrested and strip searched between 2015 and 2020 can’t spend their settlement yet.

FYI: the detention center staff have revised their strip search

11, on $140 000 surety bond.

According to the BCSO, shortly after 2:40 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 31, the BCSO Communications center received reports of shots fired in the area of Conestoga Loop in Grays Hill. Deputies responded to the scene and were later notified that a gunshot victim walked up to the fire station in Grays Hill seeking assistance.

A 31-year-old female victim was suffering from a gunshot wound. Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded to the scene and transported the victim for treatment of her injuries.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the lead investigator, Staff Sergeant Tunis, 843255-3426

Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.

policies to equally include males. And a major budget expense for the legal department will be the ongoing court battle with Pine Island developers who have filed yet another lawsuit to get county approval for a gated residential golf community on St. Helena Island.

No one has put a price tag on those legal expenses incurred during the past three years since Elvio Tropeano purchased the island, but the cost for preserving the community’s rural culture is apparently priceless, according to the citizens who have fought against it and, so far, a majority of the County Council.

Plan a festival, prepare for rain BEAUFORT — For those who might have missed it two weeks ago, the Taste of Beaufort Festival — expanded this year to include a “Taste of the Arts” event – was … well ... wet. But the volunteers who worked long and hard to pull it all together persevered and the proverbial show went on.

The Lowcountry, like much of the Southeast, has been suffering under drought conditions, and the rain, for many, was a welcome sight. Unless you had an outdoor festival planned or maybe a wedding.

But foodies still gathered in the Waterfront Park, art lovers checked out the booths at

and humanitarian organizations would also be exempt, along with organizations providing emergency services during declared emergencies.

Concerns over regulation and enforcement

Despite the proposal advancing, several council members voiced concerns about what they described as government overreach and questioned whether the ordinance would meaningfully address litter problems.

Lawson said many of the plastic items most commonly found along roads and waterways, including plastic drink bottles, would remain unaffected by the ordinance.

“So I think this is being over-regulated, so I’m going to vote against it,” Lawson said. “It’s not because I’m not a green person.”

Lawson also praised county staff for their work on the proposal while maintaining his opposition to additional regulations.

Cunningham said he shared many of the same concerns as Lawson and questioned inconsistencies in what Styrofoam products would and would not be banned under the proposal.

County staff responded that the ordinance was designed to target disposable food service products most likely to become litter while exempting products tied to food safety requirements, construction uses and packaged retail goods.

If ultimately adopted, the ordinance would not take effect immediately.

Instead, implementation would begin eight months after adoption and only if every municipality wholly within Beaufort County adopts the same or a substantially similar ordinance.

The City of Beaufort has already begun moving forward with similar ordinance amendments as part of the regional effort to maintain consistency between participating municipalities.

The proposal must still go through additional readings and a public hearing before final approval.

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

Beaufort GOP plans voter rally

Staff reports The Beaufort County Republican Party is hosting a “Get Out The Vote” Rally from 3 to 5 p.m., Sunday, May 17, in the parking lot of Beaufort County GOP Headquarters at 149 Riverwalk Boulevard in Ridgeland. The free, rain-or-shine rally will bring together more than 30 local and statewide GOP candidates. Doors open at 2 p.m., with food served shortly after the rally begins and the main program starting at 4:15 p.m. Enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs, snacks, live music,

USC Beaufort’s Carteret Street campus and volunteers from the Northwest Quadrant and the Old Commons huddled under tents in the newly renovated Washington Street Park for some “back in the day” jazz entertainment performed by an extremely talented Battery Creek High School band.

For all the outdoor festivals that are held in Beaufort and Port Royal — not just in the Spring but pretty much year-round — weather is one of those elements you can’t plan for. Ask the Beaufort Water Festival Committee after 70 years, as the festival schedule has grown, they know you just have to be prepared and hope for the best.

You gotta say one thing, Beaufort volunteers, for the most part, are dedicated individuals.

City continues work on park, FY27 budget BEAUFORT — Yes, the Beaufort City Council has “put to bed” the latest revisions to the short-term rental regulations. But the body of five still have repairs to the Waterfront Park to occupy their time. The citizens’ advisory committee is scheduled to present Option 2, a plan that repairs the promenade infrastructure and basically leaves the park layout the same, at the May 26 council meeting. Once the council decides whether to accept their

and a chance to meet candidates one-on-one. This will be the largest county GOP event in South Carolina — come early, come prepared, and be part of it.

Park in the rear lot — follow posted signs; you may drop off guests and chairs first. Bring a folding or beach chair and a cooler for comfort.

Attendees must RSVP in

recommendation, the work begins on engineering designs and … finding the money, which earlier in the process, was estimated at $30 million.

The Council has already begun work on the proposed $73 5 million budget which includes, at this point, a $32 vehicle tag fee for road maintenance.

They also have to decide if they’re going to endorse the proposed transportation sales tax referendum AND two of them — Mayor Pro tem Mike McFee and Josh Scallate — are up for re-election.

But since municipal elections are non-partisan, filing for those two offices doesn’t begin until August.

Port Royal still waiting on help from Columbia PORT ROYAL — It may be a stretch to say Port Royal town officials were hoping for help from the S.C. legislative delegation to correct a tax loophole in state law which is costing the town and the county school district close to $1 3 million.

The tax break allows developers of “affordable housing” apartments to avoid paying property taxes if just a percentage of those apartments were “affordable.” Of course, they reached out to the local delegation for some kind of relief. To date, that relief

advance and purchase raffle tickets online or at the event. This event is RSVP-only, and all BCRP Members in good standing and approved public attendees are welcome. Please submit an RSVP form for approval at https://bit.ly/49rOAi2. The Beaufort County GOP will be accepting applications for new members and renewals.

has not come, according to Town Manager Van Willis.

Indeed, the Legislature adjourns its’ two-year session this week. True, they will go back to complete “unfinished” business but whether relief from that loophole will be on the table is unknown.

The state elected officials have filled those last days with a congressional redistricting plan, per request from the President. They’ve also approved a pay raise for themselves — from $22,400 per year to approximately $47 500 — the first they’ve had since 1990 (but a raise that was rejected by the state Supreme Court last year.) They came close to passing one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country. But Port Royal officials … and all those other local governmental entities left holding the bag of tax losses thanks to “affordable housing” developers. they’re still waiting, too.

Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. The Rowland, N.C. native’s goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact

NEWS

Port Royal begins FY2027 budget talks amid transit debate, financial strain

Council reviews Palmetto Breeze funding request, fire department spending, police salary concerns during first workshop

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

Port Royal Town Coun-

cil kicked off its fiscal year 2027 budget discussions May 6 with a workshop focused largely on public safety spending and growing concerns over how regional public transportation will be funded moving forward.

The discussions come as Port Royal officials continue grappling with a significant revenue loss tied to a tax exemption claimed earlier this year by The Preserve at Port Royal apartment complex that town leaders have said created a major unexpected shortfall in the town’s budget.

Against that backdrop, council opened the first of three planned budget workshops with a presentation from the Lowcountry Regional Transportation Authority, better known as Palmetto Breeze, regarding new transit funding demands tied to Beaufort County’s changing federal designation from a rural transit area to an urbanized one.

Kristine Hepburn, finance director for Palmetto Breeze and the agency’s former executive director, explained that following the 2020 Census, portions of

northern Beaufort County, including Port Royal and Beaufort, are now classified as urbanized areas for federal transit funding purposes.

That shift means municipalities are now being asked to contribute directly toward federal grant match requirements that were previously handled differently under rural funding formulas.

Under the proposal presented May 6, Port Royal is being asked to contribute $113 236 total, including $84 734 for an FY2027 Federal Transit Administration grant and another $28,502 for a capital grant match.

Hepburn said Port Royal’s share is based on population percentages within the urbanized “north of the Broad” area, where the town accounts for 18 84% of the population share.

Several council members questioned whether Port Royal residents are effectively being asked to pay twice for public transit because town taxpayers already contribute county taxes that support countywide transportation funding.

“The challenge for us,”

sponse showed residents largely want the waterfront returned to the way it previously looked and functioned.

“Beaufortonians want back what they have,” Barna said during the meeting.

Committee members and engineers spent much of the meeting discussing the costs, permitting challenges and construction timelines associated with rebuilding the structure versus replacing it with a massive seawall and fill system.

Barna said rebuilding the existing style relieving platform remained the most practical and cost-effective approach.

“I think the best bang for the buck is going to be going back in with that wharf,” Barna said, citing labor, permitting and construction considerations.

The committee ultimately supported moving forward with Option 2 while leaving room for additional amenities or future enhancements later in the process.

Engineers told the committee they hope to have a finalized alternatives analysis and recommendation ready for the city by early June, potentially in time for the Waterfront Advisory Committee’s next scheduled meeting on June 1

The recommendation is expected to include rankings of the various waterfront options based on factors including cost, permitting, construction timelines, resilience, longevity and public feedback.

Funding questions remain

Funding remained one of the largest unanswered questions throughout the meeting.

Committee members discussed potential grant opportunities, phased engineering and permitting work, and the city’s recently reallocated funding intended to serve as seed money for the next

Mayor Kevin Phillips said during the discussion, “is that our people will pay that also because we’re Beaufort County taxpayers. So we’re getting taxed twice.”

Hepburn acknowledged the frustration and said communities across Beaufort County are struggling with how to fund growing transportation needs as the population continues to increase.

“I drive these roads,” Hepburn said. “Public transit could ease that, but not with just a drop in the bucket. You need park and ride lots. You need facilities. You need bus shelters, pull-offs.”

Council members and transit officials also discussed the challenges of operating buses safely along heavily traveled roads north of the Broad, where limited pull-offs and traffic congestion complicate route planning.

Hepburn said South Carolina remains one of the lowest-funded states in the country for public transit support.

“When they started giving money out in probably the late ’70s, there were sev-

en systems,” Hepburn said. “We have 34 systems in the state of South Carolina, and they give $6 million.”

Fire department budget focuses on staffing, equipment

Council members later reviewed the proposed FY2027 fire department budget, which officials said was largely driven by salary adjustments and operational cost increases.

Fire officials said the department recently completed compensation adjustments aimed at making firefighter and paramedic salaries more competitive with neighboring agencies.

The proposed fire department budget totals roughly $8 07 million for FY2027 compared to a revised FY2026 budget of approximately $9 13 million.

Officials said much of the apparent decrease stems from how a new ladder truck purchase was budgeted last year rather than an actual reduction in spending.

The Port Royal portion of the ladder truck payment is expected to total $32 423 this fiscal year.

Fire officials also discussed ongoing efforts to renovate Fire Station 1 and potentially co-locate Beaufort County EMS services

within the building, though officials said the city plans to move forward with repairs regardless of whether the county participates.

Another major topic involved the City of Beaufort’s contract with the Lady’s Island/St. Helena Fire District, which currently costs more than $500 000 annually to provide service to annexed city properties on Lady’s Island.

“We paid over half a million dollars this past year for them to respond to 349 calls,” officials said during the workshop while discussing possible renegotiation efforts.

Police department salary analysis highlights retention concerns

Council members also reviewed a Port Royal Police Department salary analysis showing the department currently trails neighboring agencies in pay competitiveness.

The comparison ranked Beaufort Police Department, Bluffton Police Department, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Hardeeville Police Department ahead of Port Royal in officer salaries.

Workshop materials warned the town faces an “immediate” retention risk,

“I

think the best bang for the buck is going to be going back in with that wharf.”

BILL BARNA, Project engineer with McSweeney Engineers.

ects budget currently includes $925 000 for Waterfront Park Relieving Platform Phase II engineering funded through Parks and Tourism revenue bonds. The same documents also show approximately $1 million in TIF II funding proposed for City Hall parking land acquisition and design work.

Scallate explored TIF funding option

noting officers could potentially earn between $10 000 and $60 000 more annually by leaving for nearby agencies.

Officials said staffing challenges are compounded by the department’s smaller size, which can create scheduling difficulties and increase overtime demands when officers are absent.

Police leadership said investments approved during last year’s budget cycle, including upgraded equipment, additional training opportunities and education incentives, have already helped improve morale within the department. Council members also discussed ongoing facility needs, including an estimated $50 000 in potential building repairs tied to flashing and roof-related issues at the department.

Additional budget workshops are expected later this month as council members continue reviewing departmental requests and work toward adoption of the town’s final FY2027 budget.

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

ification on whether existing TIF funds already allocated for other capital projects, including City Hall parking land acquisition and design work, could legally be redirected toward the waterfront redevelopment project.

“Still no response,” Scallate told The Island News on Sunday, May 10, regarding his inquiry to Coppage about the potential use of TIF funds for the waterfront project.

Scallate said he believed the concept was still worth introducing publicly while awaiting legal clarification.

Documents reviewed by The Island News show Scallate has been examining portions of South Carolina redevelopment law that he believes may allow publicly owned tourism and recreation-related projects outside a redevelopment district to qualify for TIF-related funding if the municipality makes “specific findings of benefit” to the district.

design phase.

Engineers estimated the design and permitting process alone could take at least 18 months.

The meeting agenda also included discussion regarding the “status of request to Council regarding grants/fundraising.”

The city has not yet released a final cost estimate for the waterfront redevelopment project.

Engineers told the committee the finalized alternatives analysis expected in early June will further

evaluate costs, permitting requirements and construction timelines associated with the various options under consideration.

Recent city budget materials tied to Fiscal Year 2027 discussions have referenced additional funding connected to both the waterfront project and other major capital projects throughout the city.

Budget workshop documents presented to Beaufort City Council on April 21 show the city’s recommended FY2027 capital proj-

Separately from the meeting discussion, Waterfront Advisory Committee member and Beaufort City Councilman Josh Scallate told The Island News prior to Tuesday’s Beaufort City Council meeting that he had been researching whether Beaufort’s existing Boundary Street Tax Increment Financing district, commonly referred to as TIF funding, could potentially help finance portions of the waterfront redevelopment project.

TIF districts use increases in property tax revenue generated within designated redevelopment areas to fund infrastructure and redevelopment projects.

Scallate said he had contacted Beaufort City Attorney Benjamin T. Coppage seeking clarification on whether South Carolina law would allow TIF revenues collected within the Boundary Street redevelopment district to be used for projects outside the district itself if city council determines the project provides a direct economic benefit to the redevelopment area.

He also said he was seeking clar-

Scallate specifically pointed to South Carolina Code §31-6-30(D) (1) and language within the Boundary Street Redevelopment Plan as support for the concept.

In written materials related to the issue, Scallate argued restoring Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park would generate additional tourism activity, visitor spending and economic activity benefiting businesses and property values within the Boundary Street redevelopment corridor.

“Provided there are no unforeseen legal barriers, I believe it is important that we fulfill our responsibility by prioritizing our capital needs and committing available TIF funds to ensure that the redevelopment of our crown jewel faces no unnecessary financial hurdles and can be restored to the highest standard possible,” Scallate wrote.

Beaufort County proposes flat tax rate for FY2027

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

Third and final budget workshop outlines public safety spending, staffing requests, capital projects ahead of June votes

Beaufort County officials are proposing a $203 3 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2027 that would keep the countywide millage rate unchanged while increasing spending on public safety, infrastructure and staffing needs across county government.

County Council received the latest update during its third and final budget workshop May 5, where Chief Financial Officer Pinky Harriott presented the county administrator’s recommended budget ahead of upcoming readings and a public hearing.

Over the course of multiple budget workshops this spring, council members have reviewed departmental requests, capital improvement projects, staffing needs and fire district budgets as the county works toward final adoption of the FY2027 budget in June.

No countywide tax increase proposed

The proposed budget keeps the county’s overall millage rate flat at 59 5 mills.

However, county officials are recommending shifts within that structure, increasing the portion allocated toward county operations

while reducing millage tied to debt service, property debt and capital improvements.

Under the proposal, county operations would rise from 47 2 mills to 51 1 mills.

Officials say rising property values are expected to generate additional revenue without increasing the overall tax rate.

spending categories in the proposed budget.

The FY2027 proposal includes nearly $73 million in public safety spending, up from approximately $66 2 million in the current fiscal year.

According to the presentation, the estimated value of one mill in Beaufort County is projected to increase from approximately $2 98 million in FY2026 to $3 18 million in FY2027 generating an estimated $11 7 million increase in tax revenue.

The proposed general fund budget would increase from approximately $199 2 million in FY2026 to roughly $203 3 million in FY2027

Much of that increase comes from projected growth in ad valorem tax revenues, which are expected to rise from about $140 7 million to $162 4 million.

Public safety and infrastructure dominate spending

Public safety remains one of the county’s largest

Several large capital and equipment requests are tied to public safety operations, including approximately $2 48 million in vehicle requests for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office administrative division and roughly $1 28 million in vehicle requests for Emergency Medical Services.

The proposed Capital Improvement Program also includes several public safety-related projects, including:

A $1 5 million detention center gym conversion project; A $620,000 cardiac monitor and defibrillator replacement project for EMS;

A $610 000 EMS headquarters renovation project; Sheriff’s office technology upgrades; A weapons range refurbishment project;

Mother’s Day gifts

Mother's Day brought four new faces to the Beaufort Memorial Collins Birthing Center. These Beaufort and Lady's Island families celebrated the holiday with the most special kind of gifts (left to right): Baby girl Amori made her appearance at 9:45 p.m.. weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces, to Beaufort parents Caroline Lazo and Ian Garcia Garza; Baby boy Grimm was born at 11:38 a.m., to Beaufort parents Riley and Erick Salas-Gomez, weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces; Baby girl Alora arrived at 7 p.m., sharp, weighing 5 pounds, to parents Isabel Garcia and Kevin Guevara; Baby boy Elliot was born at 5:42 a.m., weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces, to Samantha and Collin Roell of Lady's Island. Hats and flowers were crocheted by Collins Birthing Center staff members Donna Mixon, LPN and Merick Murdaugh, CST. Photos courtesy of Charlotte Berkeley

NEWS BRIEFS

Honor Flight

Savannah send-off

The public is invited to attend the departure event for Honor Flight Savannah’s 30th trip to Washington, D.C. A total of 28 Vietnam War veterans will depart by motor coach from AMVETS Post 70, 1831 Ribaut Road, at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 15. More than half of the veterans on the trip are from the South Carolina Lowcountry. There will be a short program during which the veterans will be introduced beginning at 8:10 a.m.

Beaufort County Veterans Affairs offering Life Planning seminars

Beaufort County Veterans Affairs is hosting a series of Life Planning seminars for veterans and their families. The seminars will be offered at 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m., and will be held at the following dates and locations:

Wednesday, June 10 Hilton Head Island Branch Library, 11 Beach City

Road

Wednesday, July 15 St. Helena

Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road

Wednesday, September 16 Bluffton

Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Drive

Wednesday, November 18 Burton

Wells Recreation Center, I Middleton

Recreation Drive

Wednesday, December 2 Hilton

Head Island Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road

This seminar specifically addresses things veterans and their families can do today to ensure their personal effects are in order. The seminar also discusses Veterans Affairs benefits that surviving spouses may be entitled to receive. RSVPs are required for space and resource purposes. Please contact Crystal at 843-255-6880 to reserve your seat. For questions and more information please contact Beaufort County Veterans Affairs at 843-255-6880 – Staff reports

And approximately $1 1 million in helicopter hangar improvements for the sheriff’s office.

Public works spending would also increase under the proposal, rising from roughly $28 5 million to just over $31 million.

County departments seek additional staffing

The proposed budget includes requests for 35 new positions across county government.

Among the largest requests are:

Seven new positions for Parks and Recreation; Three for Engineering; Three for Public Works; And three for Solid Waste and Recycling.

Additional staffing requests include positions in Animal Services, Probate Court, Facilities Management, Information Systems and Broadcasting.

The budget proposal also includes a 2% merit increase and a 1% cost-of-living adjustment for employees, along with retiree gap insurance estimated at approximately $109 000

Long-term capital planning returns to forefront

County officials said the FY2027 proposal also

marks the implementation of a four-year capital improvement plan intended to address long-standing facility, equipment and infrastructure needs throughout county government.

The county’s FY2027

Capital Improvement Program totals approximately $10 5 million across 19 projects.

Among the projects included are: Renovations to the South Carolina Department of Public Health facility; Parking improvements; Road intersection upgrades on Lady’s Island; Beaufort High School pool repairs; Detention center improvements; And technology upgrades for the sheriff’s office.

The proposal also includes projects tied to future transportation and development needs, including funding connected to the Jenkins Ferry embarkation parking project and Melrose parking and site improvements.

Fire districts present FY2027 budget requests County Council also reviewed budget requests

from several fire districts during the final workshop. The Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District proposed a FY2027 budget of approximately $9 78 million while keeping its total tax rate unchanged at 42 7 mills.

Burton Fire District proposed an approximately $8 17 million budget while maintaining its current total tax rate of 73 mills.

The Sheldon Fire District proposed increasing its operations millage rate from 38 3 mills to 39 6 mills as part of a proposed $2 3 million budget.

What happens next The county’s budget process will continue through May and June before final adoption.

County Council is scheduled to hold first reading of the FY2027 budget ordinance May 26. A public hearing and second reading are scheduled for June 8 followed by third and final reading June 22

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

Democrats holding candidate rally and cookout Sunday

Staff reports

The Beaufort County Democratic Party Candidate Rally and Cookout is being held from 2 to 5 p.m., Sunday, May 17, at the Historic Penn Center on St. Helena Island. It is free and open to the public.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet several candidates before the June 9 Democratic Primary.

Attending the event will be:

State-wide candidates

Dr. Jermaine Johnson, S.C. Governor Mullins McLeod, S.C. Governor Vincent Coe, S.C. Treasurer Trav Robertson, S.C. Treasurer Edwina Winter, S.C. Secretary of State Sylvia Wright, S.C. Superintendent of Education

DeShawn Blanding, S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture

Tiffany Boozer, S.C. Comptroller General

Bruce Cole, S.C. Comptroller General Candidates for South Carolina's First Congressional District

Mac Deford

Max Diaz

Matt Fulmer

Nancy Lacore

Mayra Rivera Vazquez State House & local candidates

Bernie Scolaro, SC House District 118

Shannon Deloach, SC House District 121

iff

Genie Brainerd, Beaufort County School Board, District 2

This listing will be updated as candidates RSVP. Please note, the BCDP does not endorse candidates before a primary. Register to attend ahead of time at https://bit.ly/4ts9MeT.

City seeking judges

Staff reports The City of Beaufort is seeking proposals from interested and qualified attorneys to be appointed as municipal court judges. A non-mandatory prebid meeting was held Thursday, May 7, in the 1st Floor Planning Conference Room at City Hall.

Questions were due by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12

2026. Answers will be posted by 4 p.m. on Friday, May 15 2026

Submissions are due on or before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. A public bid opening will be held at that time at 1911 Boundary Street, 2nd Floor, Executive Conference Room No. 2

Attorneys intending to submit proposals must register on BidNet Direct through the City’s Procurement webpage under “Current Bid Opportunities for Contractors” at https://www. cityofbeaufort.org/ 165 / Procurement. All notifications, including addendums and updates, will be issued through BidNet Direct. For additional information contact procurement@ cityofbeaufort.org or 843525-7071

Staff reports

HBF’s Lafayette Soirée fundraiser set for May 16

One of the Lowcountry’s most-anticipated social events, Historic Beaufort Foundation’s Lafayette Soiree, is set for Saturday, May 16 at the 200-year-old George Moss Stony House in the National Historic Landmark District.

This year’s fundraiser, from 6 to 10 p.m., will be held at the home of Denny and Sandy Wiener, on the historic Point, overlooking the Beaufort River. Tickets are available at www.historicbeaufort. org and are $200 for HBF members and $250 for non-members.

Tickets tend to sell quickly, and the event is held rain or shine.

Lawsuit

from page

A1

The lawsuit repeatedly characterizes the county’s overlay district as a “race-conscious zoning scheme” and claims the county strengthened the ordinance specifically to block development at Pine Island Plantation, a roughly 502acre property on northern St. Helena Island owned by developer Elvio Tropeano.

The filing marks the latest chapter in a yearslong battle that has become one of Beaufort County’s most divisive development fights.

A battle that has divided St. Helena since 2022 Tropeano first unveiled plans for the property in late 2022, proposing an 18-hole golf course, residential development, docks and related amenities on what many residents viewed as one of the last large undeveloped tracts remaining on St. Helena Island.

The proposal quickly sparked backlash across the island.

Public meetings routinely drew standing-room-only crowds as residents packed County Council chambers and community meetings

“Historic Beaufort Foundation is grateful to Denny and Sandy Weiner for sharing their exquisite property with us for this year’s Lafayette Soirée,” HBF Executive Director Lise Sundrla said in a news release.

“And, we are so appreciative of this year's co-chairs, Rob and Meg Wynne and Sherwood and Margaret Miler, and our many sponsorsand volunteers for their support of this much anticipated annual event,” she said.

The evening will feature a sampling of Lowcountry cuisine, perfectly curated libations, a silent auction, and live music with the band We Got the Beat.

urging officials to reject the project and preserve St. Helena Island’s rural and cultural character.

“Protect St. Helena” signs spread throughout the island as opposition to the project grew.

Organizations including the Coastal Conservation League, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project and the Penn Center became heavily involved in opposition efforts, arguing the proposed golf course threatened the island’s environment, historic resources and Gullah/Geechee heritage.

Supporters of the project argued the development represented a lower-density alternative to what could otherwise be built under existing zoning and would bring jobs, investment and infrastructure improvements to St. Helena Island.

The fight intensified in 2023 as Beaufort County moved to strengthen the Cultural Protection Overlay, clarifying that golf courses were prohibited uses within the district.

Developers responded by proposing three separate six-hole golf courses after county officials acknowledged smaller golf courses were not explicitly prohibited under the previous wording of the ordinance.

County officials ultimate-

A John Campbell painting of Beaufort from 1798 shows an early Federal style home on this property, facing the Beaufort River. Dr. George Moss Stoney, a physician and Hilton Head Island landowner, is thought to have remodeled or rebuilt the structure in the early 19th century.

The U.S. Direct Tax Commission seized the house during the Civil War. In 1869 the property was sold to Anna Pollitzer, wife of Moritz Pollitzer, a native of Austria. He came to Beaufort during the Civil War from New York to become a cotton merchant, and later he was elected mayor of Beaufort.

ly rejected those proposals, along with subsequent zoning map amendment requests tied to the property.

In 2025, developers returned with what they described as a “downsized” proposal that included 49 residential units, fewer docks and large amounts of protected open space alongside the golf course.

Tropeano argued the revised proposal would reduce density compared to what could otherwise be developed under existing zoning regulations.

County Council again denied the proposal after months of hearings, public comment and negotiations.

The Pine Island fight has since resulted in multiple lawsuits, appeals, public protests and years of political and legal conflict surrounding development on St. Helena Island.

Lawsuit argues ordinance is racially discriminatory

At the center of the lawsuit is the CPO, a zoning overlay first adopted in the 1990s to limit large-scale resort-style development on St. Helena Island.

The overlay prohibits developments including golf courses, resorts and gated communities across much of the island in an effort to preserve its cultural heri-

The property stayed in the Pollitzer family for five generations and was the childhood home of another Beaufort mayor, the late Henry C. Chambers, a Pollitzer descendent and visionary of the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in downtown Beaufort.

During the Civil War, Union forces took over the house and used it, like many others in downtown Beaufort, as a hospital and medical center. For the Soirée, only the grounds will be open to guests.

“The Lafayette Soiree brings together people from across the Lowcountry and beyond to celebrate Beaufort’s history and HBF’s

tage and rural character.

The lawsuit argues the ordinance is unconstitutional because it specifically identifies and seeks to protect the Gullah/Geechee community, which the filing describes as a racial classification under the law.

According to the complaint, the ordinance defines Gullah/Geechee people as descendants of enslaved Africans and indigenous Americans from the Sea Islands.

The lawsuit claims the county “explicitly prohibits otherwise productive land uses for the stated purpose of preservation of the Gullah/Geechee people.”

Attorneys also argue the county’s underlying T2 Rural zoning district already protects rural character through race-neutral land-use regulations and say the overlay goes further by prohibiting uses associated with outsiders and resort development.

The filing repeatedly accuses the county of adopting and enforcing zoning rules based on race.

It also points to the language used throughout the ordinance and related studies incorporated into the county code.

According to the lawsuit, county documents tied to the overlay contain thousands of references to terms including “Gullah,” “Geechee,”

continued work to preserve and protect Beaufort’s historic, architectural and cultural heritage,” Sundrla said. “It’s one of the most special nights in Beaufort every year, and it’s our primary fundraiser for the work that lies ahead.”

Since the 1980s, Historic Beaufort Foundation has been holding the annual Lafayette Soirée in recognition and celebration of the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit. For more than 150 years, HBF’s flagship property, the John Mark Verdier House, ca. 1804, has been thought to be the location where Lafayette spoke to Beaufort-area residents during his visit in March 1825

“Black,” “African American” and “race.”

The complaint argues no other local zoning ordinance in the United States contains that level of racial references tied to land-use restrictions.

Other legal arguments in the lawsuit

In addition to alleging racial discrimination, the lawsuit argues the CPO is vague, arbitrary and improperly enforced.

The complaint claims the ordinance fails to clearly define terms including “culturally significant,” “restricted access,” “large-scale growth” and “rapid growth,” leaving property owners without clear standards for what development is permitted.

Developers also argue the ordinance is irrational because it prohibits golf courses while still allowing uses including amusement parks, go-cart tracks, water parks, mining operations and regional waste facilities.

The lawsuit further claims the county improperly changed procedures and review standards during the Pine Island approval process in order to block the project.

According to the filing, county officials delayed applications, redirected developers into procedural pathways that were later denied and advanced amendments to the overlay while Pine Island applications were still pending.

The complaint also accuses county officials of altering language from a National Park Service study to strengthen findings supporting broader development restrictions on St. Helena Island.

Developers additionally argue the overlay exceeds what South Carolina law allows for zoning overlay districts because it outright prohibits uses otherwise allowed under the property’s underlying zoning.

The filing claims there is effectively no remaining administrative path available for property owners seeking relief from the overlay because the county provides no mechanism to remove land from the district or appeal certain denials.

Attorneys also allege the developers have suffered millions of dollars in damages tied to planning costs, legal fees, engineering work, taxes and delays connected to the prolonged fight over the project.

Comments from officials included in filing

The lawsuit also cites comments made by county officials and members of the county’s CPO Committee as evidence developers say shows the ordinance was intended to target Pine Island and preserve racial and cultural separation on St. Helena Island.

According to the complaint, County Council member York Glover stated during a March 2023 committee meeting that one of the committee’s “first priorities was to focus on Pine Island.”

The lawsuit also references remarks Glover allegedly made during a March 2023 community rally discussing what he described as “two distinct cultures on St. Helena.”

At the same event, the complaint alleges Glover referred to the Pine Island project as “a little yeast out there that we need to destroy.”

The filing also points to comments attributed to County Attorney Brian Hulbert describing golf courses as “repugnant to the Gullah cultural community.”

Additionally, the lawsuit references comments from County Council member Lawrence McElynn, who allegedly described golf courses as “destructive and erosive to the Gullah culture” during a 2025 hearing.

The complaint argues those statements show the county’s actions were motivated by race-conscious goals rather than neutral land-use planning concerns.

Previous lawsuits and ongoing legal fight

This is not the first lawsuit tied to Pine Island. Developers previously filed multiple lawsuits challenging both county decisions and the legality of the overlay itself. One federal lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel after the underlying development applications had been withdrawn.

In the new filing, attorneys argue the previous dismissal never addressed the legality of the overlay itself and say the new lawsuit directly challenges the ordinance itself rather than any specific denied application. Developers have also appealed the dismissal of the earlier federal lawsuit to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

As of this week, no hearings or court dates had yet been publicly scheduled in the newly filed federal case, which remains in its early procedural stages. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the CPO is unconstitutional, an injunction preventing Beaufort County from enforcing it and monetary damages tied to alleged economic harm suffered by the developers.

The case remains pending in federal court.

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna. theislandnews@gmail.com.

HEALTH

Keep the pep in your step

‘Jumper’s knee’ doesn’t just affect pro athletes

By Dr. Cory Messerschmidt Beaufort Memorial Orthopaedic Specialists

Do you have knee pain? If you do lots of jumping, your pain may be caused by patellar tendinopathy. Also known as patellar tendinopathy or jumper’s knee, the condition can occur at any time, but your risk doubles after the age of 18, according to research published by the National Institutes of Health. While you’re most likely to wind up with jumper’s knee if you’re an elite athlete, it affects nonelite, recreational athletes as well, especially males. Its telltale sign is anterior knee pain, which is felt at the front, center area of the knee and can make it difficult or impossible to continue with activities you enjoy.

What is jumper’s knee?

Tendons are strong cords of tissue that help your joints function. They attach muscles to bones, helping stabilize your joints and keep all the parts in place. The patellar tendon connects your kneecap (patella) to the shinbone (tibia). There, it helps to straighten your knee.

Repeated use of this tendon over the years can cause small tears to develop. When this occurs, you may experience jumper’s knee. Unlike bone fractures or other traumatic injuries, there is no collision that kickstarts jumper’s knee. Rather, it’s an overuse injury that develops over time, as you use your knee.

While it affects all types of athletes, patellar tendinopathy is

most common among those who participate in sports that require frequent jumping and landing. Quick acceleration, deceleration and change of direction also increase your risk.

A few sports that lead to this painful knee condition include:

Basketball • Long-distance running

Skiing

Track (high jump or long jump)

Volleyball

The tiny tears that cause pain can occur in a single exercise session or after repeated exercise sessions without enough time to recover.

Symptoms of jumper’s knee

Jumper’s knee can be mistaken for several other conditions. However, the pain typically focuses on the front and bottom of your kneecap. It can be intense and typically starts when you apply weight to your injured knee. When you rest your knee, the pain may go away immediately. In rare cases or when the condition worsens, your pain may persist even when not actively using your knee. Activities that may result in a flare-up of pain with jumper’s knee include:

Climbing stairs

• Jumping

Sitting for prolonged periods

Tips for Daily Prayer

Squatting

Along with pain, you may notice swelling and tenderness around the patellar tendon.

Treating patellar tendinopathy

In the early stages, jumper’s knee causes pain following physical activity. As the condition progresses, your pain begins with activity and may start again when you begin to be fatigued. Without proper treatment, you may experience decreased performance, persistent pain and even a ruptured tendon.

Fortunately, treating the problem is often simple. Jumper’s knee rarely requires surgical intervention; in fact, most cases resolve with some

home care.

Treatment options to try at home include:

Anti-inflammatory medication

Cold therapy (ice a few times daily)

Elevate the injured knee

Rest

If your pain continues, contact your primary care provider. An in-office evaluation and imaging test can confirm your diagnosis. Your provider may then recommend one of the following:

• Physical therapy — A physical therapist helps you perform exercises to strengthen and protect the patellar tendon from further harm.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections — A health care provider draws some of your blood, and a laboratory technician separates it into its different parts. The platelets, which speed up the healing process, are then injected into your injured knee.

• Surgery — An orthopedic surgeon removes damaged tissue in the tendon or breaks up tissue that builds up excessively. This treatment is a last resort and is rarely necessary.

Depending on the severity of your case, you may return to the field or court within a few weeks up to a year. For the quickest recovery, reach out to your healthcare provider if the pain sticks around longer than a couple of weeks or makes it difficult to perform tasks of daily living.

Fellowship-trained in sports medicine, Cory A. Messerschmidt, M.D., FAAOS, is a boardcertified orthopedic surgeon with Beaufort Memorial Orthopaedic Specialists who sees patients at the practice in Port Royal and Okatie.

Praying with Scripture Encountering God in the Bible

God touches our hearts through Scripture.

As we spend time with Jesus in daily prayer, we talk with him as a friend, and we allow him to quietly speak to us. Prayerfully reading Scripture is a great way to deepen our time with the Lord. As we read the Bible, we encounter the living God, and he speaks to us through his Word.

The Gospels are a great place to start.

Rather than starting with Genesis, it is often best to start with one of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The Gospels are unique because they contain what God did and said when he walked on earth among us. In the Gospels, we encounter Jesus as a person, and his words and actions touch our hearts.

Start with one small part or story.

When praying with Scripture, quality is often more important than quantity. For example, instead of reading all of chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark, you might focus on the story of Jesus healing the blind man, Bartimaeus, in verses 46-52. You can read the passage slowly, perhaps several times, allowing its meaning to sink in rather than rushing to another passage.

Put yourself into the scene.

It helps to imagine yourself in the scene, seeing and hearing what is happening. You might picture yourself as part of the crowd walking past Bartimaeus. You see him as he sits begging on the side of the road. You hear his voice ring out over the noise of the crowd, “Jesus, have mercy on me!” You feel the excited trembling in his body as you guide him to meet Jesus. You share the crowd’s astonishment as you see that he has been healed; he can now see!

Reflect on what touches your heart.

As we read, there will often be something that touches us personally. When this happens, we can consider quietly what Jesus is trying to say to us and how it connects to our lives. For example, you might have been greatly moved by the heartfelt urgency with which Bartimaeus cried out for mercy. As you quietly reflect upon why that may have moved you, God helps you realize that there is an aspect of your life where you are struggling with brokenness, and you desperately need the mercy and healing of Jesus, too.

Talk to Jesus about the insights he has given you.

As we find the Lord touching our heart and mind in Scripture, we can talk to him about it. Continuing the previous example, you could begin to ask Jesus for forgiveness. With new insight, you might talk to him about your own need for healing. The plea of Bartimaeus might become a heartfelt prayer of your own: “Teacher, I wish to see!” In simple ways like this, even a small passage of Scripture can help you have a beautiful prayer experience with the Lord.

Tips for Daily Prayer Message 5 of 8

A whimsical, magical musical

USCB Center For The Arts, Beaufort Children’s Theatre present ‘Seussical JR.’

Staff reports

USC Beaufort’s Center for the Arts and the Beaufort Children’s Theatre will unlock the imagina tions of Beaufort County citizens when they bring the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie La Bird, the Whos in Whoville and other Seuss favor ites to life with their production of “Seussical JR.,” this weekend.

Co-conceived by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Eric Idle, “Seussical JR.” combines Dr. Se uss tales (… and tails!) using the plinker-plunker of many musical styles — ranging from Latin to pop, swing to gospel, and R&B to funk — as colorful as the classic books.

“Now, I’m here, there is no tell ing what may ensue with a Cat such as me, and a Thinker like you!” says the Cat in the Hat. Horton will hear a Who and cheerful chaos will ensue when Beaufort Children’s Theatre pres ents “Seussical JR.” on Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May p.m., and Sunday, May at USCB Center for the Arts, Carteret Street in historic down town Beaufort. Ticket prices for adults are $24 and students are formation on how to watch the per formance please call the box-office 843-521-4145 centerforthearts.com.

“Seussical JR.” begins with a young girl named JoJo who con jures up the Cat in the Hat with her powerful imagination and is whisked to the Jungle of Nool for a fantastical adventure. There JoJo learns of the plight of the tiny citizens of Whoville, who live on a planet the size of a speck of dust. Their sole protector is Horton the

Charlie Ann Strickland, Allison Smith, Charlie Abercrombie, Everett Johnston, Abigail Poole Butler, Amelia Trail, Emily Scott Howell, Genevieve Murray, Josephine Murray, Kristen O’Donnell, Libby Ferreira, Kallie Canfield, Chandler Hamilton, Kaydence Andera, Sara Borders, Maddi Welch, Katelyn Sansone, Wynn Staiger, Blair Saunders, Fallon Saunders, Allison Perlinger, Valerie Baxley, Kareena Desai, Paisleigh Keyes, Maurice

Street Music on Paris Avenue

While waiting for Brandon Santini to begin playing at the kick off of the Spring Season of Street Music on Paris Avenue, 2-year-old Cade Williamson and his uncle, Riley, play music with their plastic guitars on Saturday, May 9, in Port Royal. The remaining Street Music schedule features the Keeshea Pratt Band on May 23, Dwayne Dopsie on June 6 and Peter Karp on June 20. The shows start at 6 p.m. on Paris Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets. Bring a chair, invite your friends, and enjoy a free night of live music in the heart of Port Royal. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Brandon Santini plays the blues at the kick off of the Spring Season of Street Music on Paris Avenue on Saturday, May 9, in Port Royal. The remaining Street Music schedule features the Keeshea Pratt Band on May 23, Dwayne Dopsie on June 6 and Peter Karp on June 20. The shows start at 6 p.m. on Paris Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets. Bring a chair, invite your friends, and enjoy a free night of live music in the heart of Port Royal. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Experience the true origins of Memorial Day

Staff reports With Memorial Day approaching, Gullah Traveling Theater, Inc., (GTTI) invites the community and visitors to experience Decoration Day 2026, a powerful, updated full-stage musical that brings to life the true origins of Memorial Day.

This annual homecoming event is a part of the 41st Original Gullah Festival of South Carolina celebrating the contributions and history of the Gullah people (May 21-24, www.originalgullahfestival.org).

Performances for this up-

Gullah Traveling Theater presents Decoration Day 2026

fort (USCB) Performing Arts Center, offering audiences a meaningful and moving way to reflect, remember, and cel-

ebrate our nation’s history. Rooted in the traditions of formerly enslaved people in the Lowcountry, Decoration Day tells the story of one of the earliest known Memorial Day observances — honoring fallen Union soldiers through song, tribute, and community gathering. Through original music, storytelling, and vivid performances, GTTI brings this powerful history to life in a way that resonates across generations.

“This production invites audiences to experience Memorial Day with deeper meaning,” GTTI’s Deputy

Director Scott Gibbs said in a news release. “It is a story of remembrance, resilience, and gratitude — one that deserves to be shared and celebrated.”

As part of its broader 2026 Gullah National Salute to Service, GTTI will close its season with Da’ Gullah American Revolutionary Experience, highlighting the contributions of Gullah Geechee “heroes and sheroes” during the American Revolution.

That production will be performed June 27 in Beaufort and July 18 in Bluffton at

the May River Theatre. Online ticket sales for the Revolutionary Experience open May 26 2026. Advance tickets are available through cast and staff. The 2026 Gullah National Salute to Service is presented in partnership with Visit Beaufort and Discover South Carolina, supporting cultural tourism and heritage preservation across the region. Tickets are now available online at https://www.gullahkinfolktravelingtheater. org. Guests are encouraged to reserve now, as seating is limited.

Bridges Prep girls last team standing

By Justin Jarrett LowcoSports.com

And then there was one.

One by one, the northern Beaufort County teams who began the postseason with dreams of winning a state title have watched their seasons end. Of the area baseball, softball, lacrosse, and soccer programs who made the playoffs, only the Bridges Prep girls soccer team remains, and the Bucs might not be long for the SCHSL 2A/1A bracket with a trip to top-seeded

Academic Magnet slated for Tuesday evening.

The Bucs have impressed through the first two rounds, routing Ridgeland 10-0 in their playoff opener before earning a 3-0 win over Woodland in the second round.

The degree of difficulty steps up considerably against the Raptors, who have compiled a 20-5 record against a stiff schedule that included a number of powers from Class 5A, Class 4A, and the SCISA ranks.

SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Academic Magnet has allowed just 19 goals in 26 games and hasn’t surrendered more than two goals in a game all season.

The Bucs (13-8) boast seven players who have scored double-digit goals this season with junior Brooke Daugherty leading the charge with 22 tallies, but they will have to be at their best to earn a trip to the Lower State finals. Daugherty scored a hat trick in the win over Ridgeland in round 1, and Carolina Steckley scored a brace against Woodland.

A Cheraw baserunner dives back into third base after Bridges Prep’s Layton Tillotson makes the tag on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at Bridges Prep. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

SOCCER

SCHSL 2A 3rd Round Bridges Prep at Academic Magnet, 6p.m.

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS GOLF

SCHSL 4A Lower State The Golf Club at Hilton Head Lakes

Saturday, May 16

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER

SCHSL 2A Lower State Final Bridges Prep-Academic Magnet winners vs. Atlantic Collegiate-Philip Simmons winner

Monday, May 18

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS GOLF

SCHSL 4A State Championship Cross Creek GC, Seneca

Tuesday, May 19

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS GOLF

SCHSL 4A State Championship Cross Creek GC, Seneca

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER SCHSL 2A/1A Championship, 4p.m.

Staff reports

Beaufort High triplets highlight BCSD Senior Scholars celebration

The Beaufort County School District honored 115 high school seniors — including 38 from schools in northern Beaufort County and the first triplet Senior Scholars from Beaufort High School — for outstanding academic achievement at the annual Senior Scholars celebration Wednesday night, May 6

Senior Scholars are students who have been enrolled in a Beaufort County School District high school for a minimum of three consecutive semesters by the second semester of their senior year and who have maintained a cumulative 3 5 grade-point average or higher, ranked in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, and earned the equivalent of an 85 percent grade or higher in college preparatory courses, an 80 percent or higher in honors courses, and/or a 75 percent or higher in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual en-

rollment courses throughout their high school careers.

“We’re exceptionally proud of what these outstanding seniors have accomplished during their high school years, and we’re confident their successes will continue into the future,” Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in a news release.

Delivering this year’s keynote address was the first set of Senior Scholar triplets, Beaufort High School students Katherine, Margaret, and Sophia Brown who will be attending Tulane, the University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt, respectively, this fall.

In their remarks, the sisters emphasized the importance of family, educators, peers, and community support in shaping their academic success, noting that perseverance, collaboration, and gratitude

played key roles in their journeys. They encouraged their fellow seniors to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and to recognize that success is rarely achieved alone.

Additionally, a poem was read by May River High School Senior Scholar Airo Ranera, who will be attending the University of South Carolina Honors College this fall. The Bluffton High School choir provided a musical performance.

This year’s Senior Scholar honorees are as follows:

Battery Creek: Charles Ellenberger, Kathryn Everett, Andrew Hager, Trevon Middleton, Vayda Molinari, Hernando Rizo, Greyson Tracewell.

Beaufort: Tanner Altman, Sarah Anderson, Katherine Brown, Margaret Brown, Sophia Brown, Alyson Dennison, Julia Denton, Paige

Beaufort County schools announce teachers, support staff of the year

Staff reports

The Beaufort County School District has announced its 2026-27 Teachers of the Year and Support Staff of the Year.

Fosberry, Lauren Grice, Laurel Hinderliter, Piper Kennedy, William Martin, Charlotte McClam, Mary Musselman, Ivan Nguyen, Addison Norris, Nirav Patel, James Riddle, John Schranz, Caleb Singleton, Sofie Steen, Adam Thompson, Halle Tran, Aaron Turbeville.

Whale Branch: Antaneyah Beaton, Ariel Frazier, Audrey Johnson, Lanardia Parker, Janiah Pryor, Raimund Roell, Kierstyn Wildy.

Bluffton: Nicholas Andreoletti, Luciana Bernardini, Liliana Bird, Abby Bolton, Esteban Boyd, Madelyn Crapps, Samuel Deaton, Joseph Doan, Luke Fingar, Danyela Fusi, Ryan Goll, AnnaMarie Matteo, EmmaKate McMahon, Nadia Newton, Jamie Ni, Braden Oehlmann, Josef Prochazka, Katherine Riddle, Jose Rodriguez Rivero, Addison Sanofsky, Soleil Vicaro, Rebecca Wohn, William Zendzian.

Hilton Head Island: Santino

Bambeck, Eleanor Best, Keira Bison, Ethan Collins, Helena Fister, Fouad Hindi, Leisel Hopper, Athena Irvin, Mallika Krishna, Darby Linkimer, Daniel Maklogin, Elizabeth Markowitz, Aiden Morgan, Evelyn Perez Torres, Azbriela Rueda, Sophia Safe, Sophia Taylor, Tyler Wiedemann.

May River: Tabitha Anderson, Irina Anikina, Sean Arroyo, Aiden Baumbaugh, Charlotte Berkley, Abbee Bolin, Elliana Bowden, Anai Castro, Evie Clayton, Mackenzie Collins, Kate Dalton, Ashlyn Elrod, Ella Francescotti, Myla Greene, Serenna Hall, Miyeon Harden, Molly Houchin, Aldo Huizar Ornelas, Coleman Jacobi, Savannah Johns, Macy Katzianer, Shannon Kelly, Miley-Victoria King, Jackson Levi, Logan Mendoza, Dylan O’Hara, Hunter Peeples, Giancarlo Perez, Ava Pickett, Airo Miguel Riego Ranera, Ariel Rieck, Avery Rodgers, John Schroeder, Kiera Taylor, Skylar Thornton, Hanalyn Weitekamper.

USCB Gov. Paul Hamilton SAR History Award

and we are

to celebrate them.” District representatives and school board members

“Being selected by colleagues is one of the highest honors in our profession,” Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in a news release. “These teachers and support staff represent the very best of Beaufort County School District. Their passion, professionalism, and care for students and schools make a lasting difference every single

Broad River Elementary School gets new principal

Editor’s Note: The opinions of our columnists in the

Meet the legislature’s cowardly numbskulls

There’s a new caucus in the S.C. General Assembly of like-minded souls who want to make a real difference in South Carolina politics.

It’s not a revived Fat and Ugly Caucus, the bipartisan social group of lawmakers and insiders from more than a generation ago who drank lots of liquor and enjoyed a good time. It’s not the MAGA-friendly S.C. Freedom Caucus that boldly seeks offbeat, wacky solutions that would make Attila the Hun blush.

No, this new political group is the Cowardly Numbskull Caucus. Only Republicans who want to flout voting traditions and who are deathly terrified of President Donald Trump are admitted. Right now, that means every Republican senator or House member who thinks it’s a good idea to redraw congressional maps in mid-decade – just to dilute the majority-Black 6th Congressional

District in hopes of turning it red. Earth to Numbskulls: It won’t. Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn will beat whoever you throw up against him, regardless of the lines. And more bad news: If you take Black voters out of the 6th District and move them into the Red-centric seats you wanted back in 2022, then what you’re going to do is make some of those districts more competitive for Democrats. In other words, all of these cynical machinations could backfire, especially as Trump’s poll num-

bers continue to tank because he hasn’t lowered prices on gas and food. And he’s now gotten the country involved in a stupid war with Iran where we’re desperately negotiating to return things back to the way they were before we dropped thousands of bombs on the arid country. Back to redistricting: While we’ve never liked the current gerrymandered congressional maps that state legislators drew after the 2020 census, we really don’t like the intentional manipulation of district lines now that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that race could not be a significant factor in redrawing district lines. What the justices essentially did was give a green light to Southern legislatures to return to Jim Crow divisions in a mad attempt to hold onto the U.S. House in the fall.

(As an aside, if Republican policies were working in the

country, there wouldn’t need to be so much manipulation of district lines to try to create new red districts. But sadly, all the Republicans at the federal level can do is to resort to cheating voters by changing the rules in midstream.)

Which brings us back to the Cowardly Numbskulls. Here’s the coward part: It’s pretty sad how terrified they are that Trump will take vengeance if they don’t redraw the map to try to squeak out one more GOP House seat. They’re probably having nightmares of having an endorsement being pulled by the increasingly mercurial Trump.

Even longtime Trump supporter Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, had the courage to say no to calling the General Assembly back into special session to redraw maps. Why? In part because candidates have already filed for the prima-

The Serpent’s Tooth

ry, currently scheduled for June 9. Some absentee voters have already voted. Candidates have been spending campaign cash in buckets to get name recognition. And here’s the numbskull part: Just because something can be done doesn’t mean it’s good for the state of South Carolina and voters. In the rush to redistrict, we’re seeing the true colors of those who want to turn back the clock, not move forward. We’re seeing the erosion of our constitutional republic in favor of more authoritarian crap.

If Republicans in the legislature insist on this idiotic redistricting at mid-decade, there will be unintended consequences. That’s what happens when numbskulls are in charge.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child! – King Lear, Act 1, scene 4

As I was looking up another word for a Voices article, I noticed the Word of the Day for Mother’s Day in the Cambridge Online Dictionary was “ghosting,” that is, a way of ending a relationship with someone suddenly by stopping all communication with them. How fitting, I thought for the 13 percent or thereabouts of mothers and fathers whose adult children no longer communicate with them. I know, because my husband and I are among them. It’s been nearly three years since we have seen our daughter, and slightly less time that we have not heard from her. Her ghosting behavior started long before, when we would not hear from her for months. She

always came back, though. This time, probably because she moved to New York City for a job and possibly an alternative lifestyle, she has written us off.

Her last text stated that she hadn’t forgiven us yet. Neither her father nor I know what it was that we did or did not do that requires her forgiveness and her silence. This phenomenon is more widespread than we would like to think. It didn’t start recently, though the explosion of technology has massively fertilized it. We can go back to Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke and read about the son who took his portion of

Labeling them as No. 1 but not accepting them

inheritance and abandoned his family. Those were different days, and when the son had squandered all of his resources and was living with pigs, he could not rely on government programs or NGOs to feed him. Rather than starve, he went home. Today, according to “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt, many young people abandon their parents and families for the virtual world. Since the advent of smartphones 19 years ago, immersion in social media and the online environment has caused a sharp rise in the rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm among young people. The culture in which they have grown up encourages alienation if family members have different political, religious, or social views.

One of my nieces ghosted her parents when President Trump won the 2024 election. This is a young woman with a doctorate in psycholo-

“For the thousands of parents still struggling with children who have chosen to disappear, you are not alone.”

gy. Only the death of her maternal grandmother brought her back to a relationship with her parents.

There are many reasons and scenarios why adult children abandon their families. Rev. Sharon A. Wildey outlines many of them in her book, “Abandoned Parents: The Devil’s Dilemma.” Sometimes, adult children are leaving a dysfunctional family or family trauma. Sometimes, a third individual such as a new wife

or husband, pulls the adult child away from parents. Reading helps with the intellectual side of loss, but coping with the grief of estrangement requires human compassion. Parental Alienation Anonymous is a fellowship modeled on 12-Step programs where members “give and receive comfort and understanding through a mutual exchange of experience, strength, and hope.” Groups meet in Beaufort at the Lowcountry Outreach Center on Lady’s Island Drive on Thursday mornings and Friday evenings.

Numerous resources are available for grieving and confused parents online as well. PA-A.org is one. Holidays like Mother’s Day can be particularly stressful. I am fortunate to have a supportive husband, a large extended family, friends and neighbors, a great church community, and an adoring dog. Life is

good. Still, there is a part of me that yearns for a relationship with the one person who does not want to know me.

I have accepted that the person our daughter has become is not the girl we knew years ago. She is independent and capable. That she has chosen not to have a relationship with her parents does not mean that we cannot go on with a happy life. I know our lives would be happier if she were in them, but she’s not. That is a situation only she can change. For the thousands of parents still struggling with children who have chosen to disappear, you are not alone. Know there is hope and help. Seek it.

Louise Mathews retired from a career in community colleges and before that, theater. A 13-year come-here in Beaufort, she has been a dingbatter in North Carolina and an upstater from New York.

Morin, Beaufort

VOICES

Editor’s Note: The opinions of our columnists in the Voices section are not necessarily the opinions of The

Be cautious bringing AI into practice of law

It is Thursday, early, and I have the George Washington Law School Alumni Magazine.

It’s crammed with photos of young, attractive professors and coat-and-tiewearing students; but this particular issue is dedicated to Artificial Intelligence.

I rarely read this magazine, thinking its a slick, self-congratulatory, thinly disguised plea for money. But for several years I have wondered how AI is going to change my often misunderstood profession.

When I was at GW, most of its graduates went into a nearby agency like Justice, the FTC, the IRS — some federal bureaucracy that was just across the street from Stockton Hall.

I knew that the FTC, FDA and the other federal regulating organizations were built on mountains of paper. Actually a mountain of enabling legislation that has been amended by Congress or “interpreted” by courts — all of which was crammed into huge, expandable, loose-leaf binders that detail everything from pharmaceutical approval to consumer finance.

But I, myself, spurned these faceless federal bureaucracies; and went home to South Carolina eventually starting a small-town practice on Carteret Street. When I returned, I

Slearned that the really smart graduates — the lawyers who wanted to get into court quickly — had memorized the rules that dealt with “procedure” rather than substance. If one was going to practice in South Carolina one had to know about filings, what actually went into a Summons or a Motion for Summary Judgment.

I still think one must (almost) memorize the rules of procedure if one wants to practice in Court.

“Procedure” is the gateway to substance — substance being the actual statutory law that legislatures make. Substance is also the law the appeals courts make when they file their opinions across the United States. And its here, with AI, where substance can be married to the “facts” facing the sole-practitioner who opens shop adjacent the courthouse in, say, Ridgeland.

AI provides an instantaneous search through mountains of rules, reg-

ulations, case decisions, law review articles and then laminates that “legal wisdom” atop the facts that walked in the door earlier that morning.

All of which can be bundled into a brief that one might use when making his or her argument against the Defendant’s motion a for summary judgment.

It is this desktop portal that puts the small-town lawyer on the same playing field as the big boys and girls who inhabit the huge, multi-state law firms that represent big business and big government. As I sit here this morning I understand how Chat GPT might also take a 10,000 word-long munici-

pal code section detailing zoning in Charleston; or a water-sharing agreement between Georgia and South Carolina; or some otherwise indecipherable regulation on nuclear waste disposal and reduce it to 10 readable bullets.

Having this relatively cheap desktop tool almost levels the field when an injured buyer seeks compensation from a large maker of, say, microwave ovens.

But that, of course, ignores the fact that months of “discovery” make this playing field entirely un-level. Months of costly depositions, production of correspondence, e-mails, tax returns give the big firms — firms representing the

negligent manufacturing corporation — a definite advantage.

All of which would make seating the jury the last advantageous card to be played by the young, Ridgeland-based lawyer going up against the big boys who practice in the huge firms housed in the sleek, tinted-glass buildings that shadow our state Capitol Building.

But wait!

We read that lawyers are now using AI to evaluate jurors notwithstanding the widespread belief that jurors come to the jury box tethered to difficult-to-determine bias and hidden prejudice.

And we also read that at

UNC Law School students have actually re-tried a previously decided case using Chat, Grok and Claude as the jury. Now, make no mistake this was a mock law school experiment to see if AI’s verdict matched-up with a previously rendered human-made verdict.

Transcripts and other evidence were submitted to these AI entities and they came back with an acquittal notwithstanding the fact that a real, living judge found the young defendant guilty. One might ask, “What’s the point?”

Perhaps these young students anticipate a legal landscape where the facts and the law are turned over to AI.

“Why would we do that?”

Perhaps these students want to cleanse the “jury” of its bias, anger and the fact some may find the Plaintiff’s lawyer sexy?

As George Washington University turns out graduates who are fluent in the application of Artificial Intelligence, GW should be cautious when considering whether AI should enter into the actual judging part of this ancient, Magna Carta-inspired process.

Scott Graber is a lawyer, novelist, veteran columnist and longtime resident of Port Royal. He can be reached at cscottgraber@gmail.com.

The weight of public leadership

omeone asked me today what it is that I actually want from the City of Beaufort.

The truth. The full truth. All of it. Going all the way back to February 2025 and everything that followed. And honestly, I believe that little girl deserves a public apology too. Whenever I think back to the open letter released by Beaufort City Council in February 2025, I no longer think first about the wording. I think about the five signatures. Five names placed at the bottom of a document carrying the full weight of institutional certainty during a major public controversy involving trust, children, and an ongoing investigation surrounding two missing juveniles, one of whom was a 12-year-old child who had been missing for three and a half days.

According to a councilman I recently spoke with, our City Council never collectively met prior to signing the open letter because doing so could have created sunshine law concerns, as referenced in an email by our City Manager. And honestly, that’s part of the problem.

A unified public statement was issued, yet there was apparently no discussion, no collective review of timelines, and no opportunity for members to discuss whether they agreed or disagreed with what the letter said before attaching their names to it.

People keep asking why that matters. When elected officials publicly sign a letter defending leadership and processes, that carries weight. It signals confidence. It signals reassurance. It tells the public leadership believed the situation had been appropriately handled.

But history has a way of changing the emotional weight of public documents, especially when the story continues unfolding long after the ink dries.

Recently, the child’s mother shared portions of her victim impact statement with me ahead of sentencing proceedings involving the 16-year-old involved in the family court case. In her statement, the mother describes a vulnerable 12-year-old child who, within days of first contact through social media, was exposed to deeply harmful adult situations, transported across state lines, and returned home traumatized, emotionally fractured, and struggling psychologically.

One sentence in particular has stayed with me: “The child who

No bipartisan views in this paper

came home to us was no longer the same little girl who left.”

By the time I read that sentence, I had already spent months reading documents connected to this situation, but that sentence carried the emotional weight of all of it. After reading it myself, I could no longer look at those five signatures the same way, because those signatures now exist beside the reality of what this child endured.

And then came the breach.

The irony, at least from my perspective, is that a family already working through trauma while seeking answers and truth would then become connected to a completely separate breach involving confidential records tied to minors. A situation that publicly placed additional scrutiny and attention around a family already navigating unimaginable circumstances.

Whether the records reached one family or one hundred families does not change the fact that confidential records involving minors were reportedly released outside of where they were supposed to go, including what WSAV-TV reporter Danielle Cobb previously described as an “uncut interview” involving another 12-year-old girl.

Children do not lose their right to privacy simply because a breach may have been “limited.”

Parents deserve the opportunity to know if their child’s informa-

I recently moved to beautiful Beaufort, S.C., from Pittsburgh, Pa., in November 2025

While I’ve enjoyed settling into the area, I’ve been disappointed by the lack of balance in this paper’s Voices content.

In particular, I’ve noticed that conservative perspectives are consistently absent. Instead, the coverage seems dominated by criticism of President Trump and his administration, with little effort to present differing viewpoints.

My concern came to a head after reading Carol Lucas’s article, “Are You Supporting War or Supporting War Crimes?” In it, her strong opposition to the president is evident — not only in her arguments, but also in the tone and language she uses. Referring to him

tion was involved.

People keep asking where the value is in that. The value is simple: families deserve informed choice, awareness, and the ability to protect their children if confidential information connected to them was exposed.

If we have systems in place that are not adequately protecting private and sensitive information, then the public deserves to know that too, and we deserve to know why. This is not just about paperwork. These are real people. Real families. Real children.

How would you feel if your own medical records, counseling records, or deeply personal information were exposed without your consent or knowledge?

Would you want to know? Would you expect accountability? Would you expect answers?

Of course you would.

Privacy matters even if the audience was “small.” And when minors are involved, the responsibility to protect that information should be even higher. When statistics show that at least one in four girls and one in 20 boys experience child sexual abuse, protecting confidentiality, dignity, and trust surrounding minors should never be treated as trivial.

And what makes this even more heartbreaking is that the person managing our city is on record, quoted by Councilman Josh Scallate, as saying he “doesn’t spend time or effort

chasing trivial matters,” a characterization the City Manager later disputed as lacking context. Regardless of intent, when concerns involve confidential records tied to minors, families are going to expect urgency, clarity, and seriousness from leadership.

Children’s privacy is not trivial. Public trust is not trivial. And leadership during moments involving children and trauma is not trivial. These are different times. Communities do not quietly move past situations involving children, trauma, and unanswered questions simply because official statements were issued months earlier. People remember how leadership responds when it matters most.

Years from now, long after meetings end and officials move on, those signatures will still exist as part of Beaufort’s history. And one day, that little girl may read them for herself.

That is the weight of public leadership.

Those five signatures are not trivial.

Amanda Patel is a mom of two, a wife, and a proud rescue owner to Lucky. She is a passionate educator with a master’s degree in school counseling, a master’s degree in leadership, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in public policy. She is always looking for ways to grow and serve her community, with the hope that her children will one day return after college and call it home.

as “47” and “your” president, this struck me as unnecessarily inflammatory and detracting from constructive discourse.

While opinion writing naturally reflects strong views, the tone and language in this piece — including repeated references to the president in derogatory terms — felt unnecessarily inflammatory and, in my view, detracted from a more constructive exchange of ideas.

Given this pattern, I wonder whether The Island News might consider publishing a broader range of perspectives. Including conservative viewpoints from time to time could foster a more balanced and inclusive dialogue within the community.

– Vanessa Weis, Burton

“Everybody cheats.“

When my classmate said that, I felt my pulse quicken. My earlobes warmed as heat escaped the collar of my shirt.

“Not everybody,” I said.

“So you ain’t neeevvvver cheated?” a different classmate taunted.

“No,” I answered.

“You’ve done something,” another one jeered.

“Yeah,” I said. “I read the assignment, did the practice test at the end of the chapters, and went back and made notes on the questions I missed.”

They didn’t believe me. I didn’t care, because I knew that many of the ones who did believe me didn’t like me. To them, I was a nerd, or worse, an Oreo: Black on the outside but white on the inside. See, I learned early on that sometimes people say stuff like that to cover for what they cannot do. More often, it’s to cover for things

They

are who we thought they were

they simply don’t want to do, like some of my classmates. And I learned that people say things like that when they just want to do bad things and pretend it doesn’t matter because “everybody does it.”

There is a longtime stance in the liberal/progressive community that every time Donald Trump or one of his supporters accuses Democrats of something, it’s because they are either doing it themselves or they plan to do it the first chance they get. All the years of accusing Democrats of corruption,

cheating, weaponizing the federal government for personal vendettas, “waste, fraud and abuse,” and godlessness never made sense to me. Not until I started asking, who is making these claims, and what are they telling about themselves? A crook thinks everybody is a crook.

So when Trump refuses to follow the law, it’s because he thinks he is above it. When he sics the Justice Department on his enemies, he says he’s just doing what was done to him. When he accepts money from people seeking his favor, he points to the “Biden crime family,” as if to say, “well they did it, so now I get to do it.”

“Waste, fraud and abuse,” the standard rationale for Trump’s systematic dismantling of the federal government, has reached new heights since his return to office. Who needs a billion-dollar ballroom? What Christian erects a

gold statue to a man yet insists he isn’t idolizing that person?

And last week, we got to see how much a lot of what Republicans in the South have been saying for years was pure baloney. They blame Democrats for everything, though they have held the reins of political power across generations that have seen their states fall and stick to the bottom of rankings in every metric for quality of life.

Like their counterparts in D.C., they find every excuse not to do the right things.

Gun control? “It’s too soon” or “Now is not the time,” after every mass shooting. The social safety net? “We can’t afford it” even as they grant tax breaks to big corporations seeking to dodge organized labor. They claim DEI only meant “didn’t earn it” even as they lavish high-paying jobs on family and friends.

It is maddening to me

how slowly the wheels of the government turn when it comes to helping people.

But hot damn, did GOP lawmakers run like their asses were on fire when they saw an opportunity to redraw congressional districts to protect themselves from an electorate increasingly opposed to their unpopular agendas.

Every critique I’ve seen so far has been met with “but look what the Democrats did in Virginia.”

Not only do they fail to mention Trump started this mess in Texas, they also fail to mention Virginia’s redistricting effort was presented to and approved by its voters — before being struck down by the state’s Supreme Court for “procedural errors.”

I wonder how that court might describe the clamor in places like Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee, where Republican lawmakers went to vote on ready-

made revised electoral maps eliminating districts that improve the likelihood of Democrat and Black representation in their states? All without input from voters.

I recall the Alabama capitol reporter who told me years ago of that state’s GOP lawmakers, “They really aren’t bad people.” My response, “So why do they keep doing bad things?” At some point the people currently in power and their supporters are going to have to admit to themselves what the rest of us already know. They are not doing these things for God, for the country, their families, or for their race. They are doing bad things because they are bad people, and because they can.

Terry E. Manning is a Clemson graduate and worked for 20 years as a journalist. He can be reached at teemanning@gmail.com.

Guiding our nation through moral complexity

Iwish I could say that I had put together the title of this piece, but I didn’t. I was reading a short summary of a meeting between President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Abe, and these were the words used to describe a private moment as the two leaders stood before the marble columns of the Lincoln Memorial in April of 2015

The era of Lincoln was certainly a time in our nation’s history that was fractured; the Confederates vs. the Union, sadly, American against American. And the two men standing there in the shadow of Lincoln were experiencing their own sense of burden, knowing the adversarial history of the two countries they represented.

What does it mean to feel remorse for history? Think about World War II and all that time period produced. Japanese interment of Americans with unspeakable torture; the conclusion of the war with the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, unleashing a genie that could never be put back into the bottle.

I want to share a portion of the

Afew quick facts about the camp tractor. First, it looks like a tractor. The exhaust pipe extends up through the engine cowling, a pipe that can be covered by a #303 can (16-17 oz.), these days commonly replaced with a 15-oz. can, or a #2 can (20 oz.), both of which are available without charge at any recycling location. Either size provides sufficient cover to prevent rain, small birds, mice, and other diminutive rodents from gaining access to the engine's interior, decamping there, and causing mischief. The tractor tires look like tractor tires. They’re tall and narrow with self-cleaning

article because it struck me as being so poignant as to admittedly bring about tears, not so much for what happened 11 years ago at that quiet moment shared by two world leaders, but for looking ahead to America’s future.

“This was a quiet pause above the Reflecting Pool that carried the full emotional weight of seventy years of transformed friendship between two nations once locked in devastating war. What made this exchange so extraordinary wasn't the official itinerary or the choreographed press opportunities; it was the deliberate, deeply personal choice Obama made to bring Abe to the very steps where Martin Luther King Jr. had declared his dream to a quarter-million people in August

1963 — grounding a conversation about geopolitical futures in the soil of America's own unfinished reckoning with itself.

“That silhouette captured above the still water wasn't just diplomacy; it was two men choosing, quietly and without cameras demanding it, to stand together in humility before the long, complicated, ultimately hopeful story of what nations can become when they refuse to let the past be the final word."

Please, dear reader, reread this passage. I did, and I can tell you that it has been a while since I was so impacted by so few words. Note in those words that I chose to italicize America’s own unfinished reckoning with itself.

Try to apply this to our present country’s situation. We are engaged in a war, … a skirmish, not a war, an illegal war. Yours to choose. We have lost American lives, and we have lost much of our so-called prestige on the world stage. Face it, we are not the country we were 18 months ago.

We have been reduced in stature at the whim of one person who gathered about him a cadre

of individuals with the same non-existent moral core as he.

I choose not to elaborate upon that, but I will say that between Project 2025 and those choices, our country has become a place where history is repeating itself, and we seem unable to deter this.

To give you just one example of this, I will reference an article dealing with our economy and something called The Arctic Corridor. This is no longer just an idea but a reality that is reshaping global trade through Canada’s Arctic. It is said that $740 billion in trade is being redirected from traditional routes controlled by the U.S.

You remember Canada, dear reader, that territory that was going to humbly succumb to becoming the 51st state of the United States? Ah, finally a digression.

I admit to being surprised that the U.S. heavily influences what are called “choke points” like the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, and the Strait of Malacca. Apparently this new route bypasses those, cutting distances by 40%, thus reducing shipping time.

I am quoting the article now.

The camp tractor’s contamination release valve

lugs that dig their way effectively through swamp and field, an inappropriate progression on your front lawn or that of your neighbor. The transmission shifts like a tractor’s transmission should — a determined, manual effort whose success is announced by an audible “clunk.” Claimed augmentations

are dispensed -- with no backhoe, under-body scraper, bushwhacker, or mower. No leaf blower, wood chipper, or enclosed cab with cushioned seat, and cooled, conditioned air. All are affectations that detract from the tractor’s primary function: the efficient transportation of camp members, their arms and belongings, and the subsequent trips carrying the results of successful hunting efforts.

She’s a 1938 Farmal “A.”

The boys bought her used 75 years ago. Her engine block was cracked, so they were able to buy her right. That crack? No problem. They would weld

it shut as soon as they could find the time. They never did.

The crack was internal, allowing antifreeze to leak into the lubrication system, where it mixed with oil before settling in the oil pan. Not a good situation.

It fell to the next generation of campers to fashion a cure. It was my friend, Dave, who fabricated the solution.

As noted, the crack in the engine block allowed the antifreeze from the cooling system to leak into the lubricating system, diminishing its effectiveness. This mixing occurred gradually while the tractor was running. But when the tractor was at rest, the oil/

“This isn’t just a new trade route — it’s a shift in global power. For the first time in modern history, a major corridor exists that doesn’t rely on American oversight. And that raises one big question: if global trade no longer needs U.S.-controlled routes, what happens to America’s economic influence?

Returning to the image of Obama and Abe, I don’t believe we will ever see any display of a sense of burden from the present administration. They have no sense of guilt, responsibility or morality that burdens them. And so it comes down to this: can those concerned Americans come together with the mission of rescue, and start us back on a path of self-reckoning? November elections will tell the tale, unless, of course, unlimited gerrymandering wins over what should have been voting procedure all along — one vote per person and popular vote takes all.

Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”

antifreeze mixture settled in the oil pan. Antifreeze is heavier than oil, so the oil floated to the top and the antifreeze settled to the bottom of the pan.

That’s where the contamination release valve was located.

Before starting the tractor, the operator opened the release valve, allowing the antifreeze to drain out until clean oil was observed; at that point, the valve was closed, the oil level topped up, and the day’s work began.

The fact that the old Farmall still performed its duties after all these years is a testament not only to

the efficiency of its manufacturer, the now-defunct International Harvester Corporation, but also to the effectiveness of its contamination-release valve. It’s a valve that is demonstrably superior to the contamination-release valves serving the nowaged camp members, whose valves — after years of abuse and overuse — have lost their regularity, evolved leaks, and resulted in the dwindling of what was once a robust flow.

Doug Pugh is a retired judge from northern Michigan. He and his wife winter on Fripp Island and are pleased to be there … when they are. He can be reached at pughda@gmail.com.

LOCAL MILITARY

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, 15 May 2026

Recruit Training Regiment • Commanding Officer, Colonel A. P. Bariletti 1st Recruit Training Battalion • Lieutenant Colonel G. T. Moynihan Commander of Troops, First Sergeant T. R. Crave • Parade Adjutant, Staff Sergeant C. Kim Company “C”, 1st Recruit Training Battalion • Captain E. B. Pace Drill Master • Staff Sergeant D. M. Brodie, Staff Sergeant R. T. Frye

PLATOON 1016

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt C. J. Mahone

Pvt Barnes, P. R.

Pvt Bolen, C. L.

Pvt Borden, Q. W.

Pvt Borjonescobedo, A. I.

Pvt Brock, A. D.

PFC Bucio, E. G.

Pvt Catoe, C. R.

Pvt Cervantesnoyola, J. A.

Pvt Coney, J.

Pvt Coppedge, C. A.

Pvt Creighton Jr, D. A.

Pvt Derrick, C. L.

Pvt Dimasgonzalez, J.

PFC Escalera, L. A.

PFC Frampton, M. A.

Pvt Furr, J. I.

PFC Gauthier Iv, M. G.*

Pvt Gomez, J. L.

PFC Graham, J. R.

Pvt Hernandezramos, F.

PFC Ibarralemus, H.

PFC Lewis, K. W. *

Pvt Littlejohn, K. I.

Pvt Mccreery, W. N.

Pvt Mcilrath, K. L.

Pvt Montoyavelez, E.

PFC Norwood, D. L.

PFC Patrick, D. M.

Pvt Pozo, J. B.

PFC Rivera, J. V.*

PFC Roberson, D. J.

Pvt Salazar, C.

Pvt Sammons, A. J.

PFC Sanchez, A. I.

Pvt Smith, A. D.

Pvt Souza, L. M.

Pvt Spires, J. D.

PFC Unger, V. M.

PFC Vazquezjaimes, I.

Pvt Velasqueztino, A.

PFC Wicks, R. L.

Pvt Wilson, L. J.

PLATOON 1017

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt D. M. Gray

Pvt Ash, P. L.*

PFC Audige C.

PFC Badillo, L. A.

Pvt Bile, A. K.

Pvt Bonner, H. F.

PFC Breland, P. Z.

PFC Brennan, E. M.

PFC Bunn, K. R.

PFC Carcioppolo, L. D.

PFC Clark, R. J.

Pvt Colvin, R. B.

PFC Copeland, N. S.

Pvt Digh, B. W.

Pvt Dunker, L. L.

Pvt Fabianich, B. W.

Pvt Fonseca, I. R.

Pvt Ford, D. L.

PFC Garcia, J. D.

Pvt Green, J. D.

Pvt Guerrero, J. A.

Pvt Heckman, C. O.

PFC Hoppe, S. I.

PFC Jackson Jr, J. J.

Pvt Jackson, N. A.

Pvt Jiles, J. R.

Pvt Lucas, A. B.

Pvt Mccallum, R. S.

Pvt Mullins, C. J.

PFC Nelson, C. J.

PFC Ordoqui Jr, P. L.*

Pvt Owen, L. J.

Pvt Reyes, J. A.

Pvt Salgado, E.*

Pvt Sandoval, J. A.

PFC Sangu, C. C.

Pvt Schultz, S. A.

Pvt Stevison, E. S.

Pvt Teixeira, E. G.

Pvt Tejedasantos, A. A.

Pvt Terry, O. M.

Pvt Wilder, E. C.

PLATOON 1018

Senior Drill Instructor

GySgt J. E. Cabrera

Pvt Allbritton, B. D.

Pvt Almazan, G. O.

Pvt Arevaloalonso, R. N.

PFC Banks, G. W.

Pvt Bernard, O.

PFC Borketey, M. B.

Pvt Brush, J. B.

PFC Calderasanchez, L. E.

Pvt Candelariofermin, L. D.

Pvt Canida, K. J.

PFC Cook Iii, W. R.

Pvt Crandell, O.*

PFC Crisp, A. G.

PFC Culley, E. N.

PFC Dietrich, J. C.

Pvt Draughn, A. T.

Pvt Farmer, D. E.

Pvt Fernandestavaressil, K. P.*

Pvt Gonzalez, W. G.

Pvt Hunley, J. D.

PFC Jenkins Jr, M. J.

Pvt Jenks, A. R.

PFC Jones, B. J.

Pvt Leon, J. D.

Pvt Loaizasmith, A.

Pvt Martellucci, C. S.

PFC Mcfadden, D. A.

PFC Miller, J. A.

Pvt Molinacastillo, J. D.

Pvt Noeljeune, D.

Pvt Obrien, A. M.

Pvt Puckett, J. W.

Pvt Raywood, R. J.

Pvt Richard, N. C.*

PFC Rioscampos, G.

Pvt Roberts, S. A.

Pvt Saintgermain, M.

PFC Sanchez, B.

Pvt Starns, J.

Pvt Thomas, C. G.

Pvt Walker, T.

PLATOON 1020

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt M. M. Ashiagbor

Pvt Abreugonzalez, C

Pvt Alvarezserna, B. T.

PFC Archer, D. J.*

PFC Bate, H. M.

Pvt Bates, J. R.

Pvt Carr, E. M.

PFC Carter, B. V.

PFC Castillo, K.

PFC Chapin, C. M.

PFC Chauncey Jr, C. M.

Pvt Crabtree Ii, K. E.

PFC Decoro, J. M.

Pvt Delpilar, J. E.

PFC Eubanks Jr, B. J.

PFC Figueroa Jr, A. R.

Pvt Funcheon, J. D.

PFC Gallace, A. J.

PFC Gonzalezguerrero, C. R.

Pvt Guzman, C.

PFC Howell, J. S.

Pvt Igleheart, D. E.

Pvt Lenoir, M. D.

PFC Little, E. J.*

Pvt Martinez Iii, Ricardo

Pvt Martinez, N.

Pvt Mclennon, J. A.

Pvt Mendoncadeandradedru, L.

Pvt Moore, X. G.

Pvt Na, D. Y.

Pvt Osborn, E. R.

PFC Perez, S.

Pvt Purification, O. F.

PFC Ramirez, D. J.

Pvt Rosati Jr, N.

PFC Sassin, L. M.

PFC Simmons Iii, R. W.*

PFC Siqueiradesouza, M. B.

Pvt Smokoski, J. S.

Pvt Zamora Jr, J. L.

PLATOON 1021

Senior Drill Instructor

Sgt S. Thach

Pvt Adkins, S. J.

Pvt Alston Jr, J. E.

Pvt Alt, T. J.

Pvt Alvarado, T. J.

PFC Bobadillahernandez, B. A.

Pvt Bratcher, C. W.

Pvt Breindl, A. K.*

Pvt Burgin, L. S.

Pvt Costa, S. M.

Pvt Cummings, J. C.

PFC Darisme, D.

Pvt Dickson, A. J.

Pvt Dietel, E. C.

Pvt Fryer, J.

Pvt Grullon, D. N.

PFC Gutierrez, R. D.

Pvt Holiday, L. M.

PFC Holstsande, E. O.

Pvt Ingallsortiz, M. R.

Pvt Ishikawa, N. J.

Pvt Kaymore, J. J.

Pvt Lee, J. W.

Pvt Martinez, N.

Pvt Martinezchapa, J. E.

PFC Martinezmederico, L. E.

PFC Mazhindu, P. C.

Pvt Nunezgenao, D. W.

Pvt Nyilinkindi, L. O.

Pvt Ortizsantiago, J.

Pvt Paizis, G. J.

PFC Pike Jr, C. F.

Pvt Rogers, B. S.

Pvt Short, A. J.

Pvt Smith, J. D.

Pvt Spurlock, J. T.

Pvt Tabordafranco, S.

Pvt Walker, T. P.*

Pvt Wilcox, L. D.

PLATOON 1022

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt J. A. Hernandez

Pvt Antonucci, S. P.

PFC Bachtell, A. J.*

Pvt Bennett, S

PFC Brown, R. W.

Pvt Burgosbeato, D. M.

Pvt Coleman, K. N.

Pvt Cung, V. L.

Pvt Deroche, J. X.

Pvt Diazgarcia, F. I.

Pvt Dinger, N. R.

PFC Epps, K.

Pvt Filimonov, A.

PFC Firla, T. R.

Pvt Gonda, H. S.

Pvt Guallpaguaman, W. G.

PFC Hall, E. A.

PFC Henderson, G. G.

PFC Hill, N. R.*

Pvt Jones Jr, D.

Pvt Kindervater, B. E.

Pvt Koch, N. G.

PFC Lawniczak, B. M.

Pvt Lothamer, I. H.

Pvt Mccrow, A. A.

Pvt Navarro, L. W.

PFC Odonohue, P. J.*

Pvt Paudyal, R.

PFC Pavlinchak, A. S.

Pvt Peeso, J. A.

Pvt Pinero, E. K.

Pvt Riles, S. L.

PFC Ringold, J. A.

PFC Short, T. J.

Pvt Simmerman, D. M.

PFC Sisk, J. W.

Pvt Stempka, B. J.

Pvt Thompson, A. E.

Pvt Walker, C. C.

Pvt Wedge Jr, S. J.

Pvt Williams Jr, S. P.

*Denotes Meritorious Promotion

LOCAL MILITARY

Beaufort DAV Chapter 12 again named state’s best

Staff reports

Beaufort’s Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 12 has been named the Outstanding South Carolina Chapter of the Year for the second consecutive year. The award announcement was made at the DAV Department of South Carolina Convention held April 29 through May 2 in Columbia.

The DAV’s mission is singular: to empower veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. The organization accomplishes this by helping veterans and their families obtain earned benefits, advocating for veterans’ interests before Congress, and educating the public about the sacrifices of those who served.

Chapter 12 earned the award through its extensive volunteer service to veterans and the community. As the largest of South Carolina’s 30 DAV chapters, it boasts 1,724 members. Its initiatives include assisting with VA benefit claims; operating a fleet of vans that transport veterans to VA medical appointments from Charleston to Savannah; conducting “Forget-Me-Not” ceremonies at Beaufort National Cemetery; sponsoring an annual scholarship program at the Technical College of the Lowcountry; providing coffee mess service at the Beaufort Naval Hospital; and offering various forms of direct assistance to needy veterans

and their families.

Chapter 12’s distinctive float is also a familiar sight in the annual Beaufort Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades.

All Chapter 12 members are disabled veterans themselves, giving them a unique perspective and deep empathy when helping fellow vet-

erans and surviving spouses navigate the often-complex VA benefits claims process.

The chapter offers free, walk-in assistance with VA benefit applications every Thursday morning from 8 to 11 a.m., at AMVETS Post 70 located at 1831 Ribaut Road in Port Royal.

Several Chapter 12 mem-

bers also received individual statewide honors: U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran Douglas Hart, who recently passed away, was posthumously recognized as Outstanding DAV Volunteer of the Year for his leadership of the chapter’s van transpor-

VA dental care, Part 1

This is the first of three articles on VA dental health care.

I authored an article titled “A Closer Look at VA Dental Health Care” for The Island News on Aug. 4, 2021, at https://bit.ly/4uoxCK9

That article described VA dental care benefits and the state-of-theart Dental Clinic at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center’s (RHJVAMC) North Charleston Annex. Because I have received questions recently on VA dental health care, this series of articles will update the information provided in 2021 and more.

Overall VA dental health care

According to the VA webpage “VA Dental Care,” at https://bit. ly/4d44Ub5, if you qualify for VA dental care benefits, you may be able to get some or all of your dental care through VA. Find out how to get VA dental care or how to buy dental insurance if you do not qualify at: VA Dental Care, https://bit. ly/49GFmOW.

• VA Dental Insurance Program, https://bit.ly/3R09jDq.

If you have questions or need assistance with veteran dental insurance, call 855-460-3302

• Delta Dental Insurance https://bit.ly/3PcdVpu.

Eligible enrollees include any veteran enrolled in VA health care and anyone enrolled in the VA’s Civilian Health and Medical Program (CHAMPVA). Dependent children and other family members who do not qualify as a CHAMPVA beneficiary are not eligible.

METLIFE Dental Insurance, https:/ /www.metlife. com/vadip/. Veterans and CHAMPVA members enrolled in VA health care can

enroll in a MetLife VADIP plan online or by calling 1-888-310-1681. MetLife offers two coverage options, nationwide access, and more.

What VA Dental Care covers

According to Benefits.com at https://bit.ly/4wE56Wm, VA Dental Care generally includes: Preventive and diagnostic services: Exams, cleanings, X-rays.

Therapeutic services: Fillings, root canals, extractions.

• Prosthetic appliances: If related to a service-connected condition.

• Surgical and restorative care: For pain relief or functional restoration

Coverage depends on the veteran’s class and whether the dental condition is service-connected.

Dental implants

The decision to cover dental implants is made on a case-by-case basis by VA dental professionals, who assess the clinical appropriateness and necessity. While the VA may provide dental implants, coverage is limited and may not be available for non-service-related cases unless there is a medical justification.

Veterans with service-connected dental conditions, former prisoners of war, and those rated 100% disabled have the strongest path to coverage.

tation service. Commander Larry Baker was named Outstanding Commander for his strong chapter leadership and dedication to helping veterans.

• Steve Curless received the Outstanding Blue Cap DAV Member award for his service as treasurer and leadership of the weekly coffee mess at Beaufort Naval Hospital.

• Aubrey Burton was honored as Outstanding Chaplain for providing spiritual support to veterans and families. Adjutant and Past Commander Karen Majerczak received a Certificate of Achievement for her outstanding support to women veterans. Past Chapter Commander James Colwell was elected Department Senior Vice Commander. On July 1, Chapter 12 will celebrate its 75th anniversary. The DAV motto remains as relevant today as ever: “Keeping our promise to America’s veterans.”

EDITOR’S

The VA will not approve implants just because a veteran prefers them over dentures. The VA dentist still has to decide that implants are the right treatment for your situation. If the VA cannot provide your dental implant within its access standards, you may be able to receive the procedure from a private dentist through the VA’s Community Care Network. Learn about Community Care in the VA’s “Customer Service Guide: Understanding the Community Care Process” and at https://www. va.gov/communitycare/; https:// bit.ly/4nqcG2w; and https://bit. ly/3R7eUru.

For veterans interested in dental implants, contact a local VA dental clinic to discuss specific needs and eligibility and to schedule an initial dental examination. This will help determine the appropriate course of action regarding dental care and implants. Learn more at https://bit.ly/4nlebim, an article by the LegalClarity Team, dated April 1, 2026

Some dental services are not normally covered by VA dental benefits

These include cosmetic procedures such as teeth whitening and veneers, orthodontic treatment, implants, and dentures. It is best to ask your local VA Dental Clinic if they will provide the services you need.

The Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center & Healthcare System (RHJVAMC&HCS) is a five-starrated facility located at 109 Bee Street, Charleston, S.C. 294015799. The RHJVAMC&HCS has a first-class Dental Clinic. The

RHJVAMC appointment phone number for all sites is 843-5775011

Eligibility for VA Dental Care

Eligibility depends on several factors, including military service history and the veteran’s current health and living situation. Based on these factors, the VA places you into a benefits class. Veterans get the specific benefits assigned to that class. The following statements/situations describe a veteran’s VA Benefits Class and the dental benefits he or she may qualify for.

Situation 1: The veteran has a service-connected dental disability or condition for which he or she receives VA compensation (Monthly payments). The Veteran is in Class I and may qualify for any needed dental care.

Situation 2: The veteran is a former prisoner of war. The veteran is in Class IIC and may qualify for any needed dental care.

Situation 3: The veteran has one or more service-connected disabilities and is rated by the VA as 100% service-connected disabled. *The veteran is in Class IV and may qualify for any needed dental care.

*Warning: If the veteran is being paid at the 100% disabling rate based on a temporary rating (for a reason such as a long stay in the hospital or rehab care), that doesn’t qualify the veteran for this benefit.

Situation 4: The veteran is unemployable (unable to work), and the veteran gets disability compensation at the 100% disabling rate due to service-connected conditions. *The veteran is in Class IV and may qualify for any needed dental care

*Warning: If the veteran is be-

ing paid at the 100% disabling rate based on a temporary rating (for a reason such as a long stay in the hospital or rehab care), that doesn’t qualify the veteran for this benefit.

Situation 5: The veteran served on active duty for 90 days or more during the Persian Gulf War era. *The veteran is in Class II and may qualify for “One-time dental care” if the veteran meets all of these requirements: 1) The veteran did not receive a dishonorable discharge; and 2) the veteran applied for dental care within 180 days of discharge or release; and 3) The veteran’s DD214 certificate of discharge does not show that he or she had a complete dental exam and all needed dental treatment before you were discharged

*Warning: If a veteran got a dental award letter from the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) dated before 1955 stating that his or her dental conditions are not compensable, then the veteran is no longer eligible for Class II outpatient dental treatment. This is because of Public Law 83, which was enacted June 16, 1955, that amended Veterans’ eligibility for outpatient dental services.

Continued next week.

Larry Dandridge is a Vietnam War wounded warrior, disabled veteran, ex-Enlisted Infantryman, ex-Warrant Officer Pilot, and retired Lt. Colonel. He is a past VA-accredited VSO, a Patient Adviser at Charleston and Durham VA Hospitals, a Fisher House Charleston/Friends of Fisher House Charleston Goodwill Ambassador, and the Veterans Benefits Adviser for his local Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Chapter and Cary, N.C., VFW Post 7383.

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AUDIOLOGY & HEARING

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Hear the Beauty that Surrounds You

The Beaufort Sound Hearing and Balance Center

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AUCTIONS

LIVE ESTATE AUCTION. Sat., May 16 at 9:30 am. 40 Highland Street, Varnville, SC. Selling the estate of Mr. Henry and Mrs. Annette Tuten. Accepting consignments. Auction is packed! Antiques, Nice furniture, 1890’s Oak Hall Tree, 1880’s Victorian Buffet, 1860’s Empire Chest, Dining/Bedroom Suites, Dresser/Chests, Tables/Chair Sets, Art, Gun Cabinet, Yard Decor, China Sets, Glassware, Porcelains, Coins, Lots of Tools, Generators, Lawn Mowers, Air Compressors, WWII Collectibles and much more! So much to sell we will have (2) auctioneers selling! Preview Friday, May 15 from 10am – 6pm. Browse website: www.cogburnauction.com.

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HELP WANTED – DRIVERS

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TELEVISION & INTERNET SERVICES

DIRECTV OVER INTERNET – Get your favorite live TV, sports and local channels. 99% signal reliability! CHOICE Package, $84 99/ mo for 12 months. HBO Max and Premium Channels included for 3 mos (w/CHOICE Package or higher.) No annual contract, no hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS 1-855-237-9741

DIRECTV- All your entertainment. Nothing on your roof! Sign up for Directv and get your first three months of Max, Paramount+, Showtime, Starz, MGM+ and Cinemax included. Choice package $84 99/mo. Some restrictions apply. Call DIRECTV 1-844-624-1107 Get DISH Satellite TV + Internet! Free Install, Free

CancerSupport

BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP

Second Wednesday of the Month | 6 – 7pm* ALL CANCER SUPPORT GROUP

Fourth Wednesday of the Month | 1 – 2pm*

Beaufort Memorial Medical and Administrative Center 990 Ribaut Road, Beaufort • Room 317, 3rd Floor

To RSVP for a free Support Group, scan our code or visit: BeaufortMemorial.org/CancerSupportGroup

*Meeting schedule subject to change and may be impacted by holidays.

QUESTIONS?

Call Kianna Brown, LMSW • 843-522-7328

Thank you to for generously sponsoring this ad.

SOUTH CAROLINA and the ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6  3 - 6

The program will comprise three parts: a combined lecture by eminent historians Drs. Lawrence Rowland and JohnMcCardell -- tracing the sources and discussing the causes of the American Revolution and South Carolina’s role in its success, a short break for discussion and the essential birthday cake with lemonade, and then an all American concert for four hands by brilliant pianists Jeewon Park and Andrew Armstrong -- presenting works by American composers ranging from Sousa to Joplin to Gershwin to Barber; from “Yankee Doodle” to “Stars and Stripes” to ragtime, to “Rhapsody in Blue,” and beyond.

GENERAL ADMISSION ALL-INCLUSIVE TICKETS - $30 Lectures Cake and Lemonade Piano concert www.uscbchambermusic.com/250 843-521-3107 or scan QR code